The unexpected
by Dandelions On Fire
Summary: When Severus Snape shows up at 12 Grimmauld Place with a woman about his age and a teenage girl who has his eyes, that's when you know things are not going to be what you were expecting.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer****: Only saying it once. I obviously don't own Harry Potter, I mean it's called fanfiction for a reason.**

**I only own what you don't recognize.**

* * *

"You still haven't answered our question, mum." Said Ron looking at his mother suspiciously. Since last week the inner circle of the Order of The Phoenix had been acting a little bit too weird for his liking. They were ignoring them, and when asked questions like _something is really wrong, isn't it_, everyone seemed to carefully avoid answering.

"Huh? What? Sorry honey I have to check the food, we can talk later." Was the answer he got before Molly walked to the kitchen as fast as she could. He followed her.

"No mum, not later, now. What's going on? You've been avoiding answering our questions more than the usual and we're not even asking about the big order business! We just want to know if something worse than the ordinary has happened! Just answer that!" He said, exasperated.

"Except it is big order business..." His mother whispered while looking at the food. She sighed tiredly and turned to look at him. "Ronald..." He looked at her. Really looked at her. She looked worried and worn out. Things were apparently more serious than he had thought. "Believe me when I say that** we can't tell you**. And I mean it. This is very important and you will know what's about in a few hours at most, but we really can't tell you _anything_ about it."

"WHY?!" He asked desperately, and she looked at him dead in the eye.

"Because I..." She paused and took a shaky breath. "Because _we_ made an Unbreakable Vow." He didn't know what kind of answer he was expecting to get out of her but that one was definitely not it. He couldn't speak, he could just look at her flabbergasted. "Now go, I have to finish this" He still didn't move. "Ronald Weasley, get out of here. That is an order."

He blinked a few times and left the room.

* * *

"An Unbreakable Bow? Merlin..." George said while running a hand through his hair. "This is bigger than we thought."

"What do you think they vowed? Maybe they are protecting someone..." Hermione added while biting her lip deep in thought. "I mean, it makes sense. They can't say anything because they would die."

"Don't be so bloody cold about it. We're talking about my parents and possibly brothers dying here!" Ron cried as Hermione rolled her eyes.

"They are not going to die, Ron. They are not stupid and one does not make an Unbreakable Vow knowing they could break it." This time Ginny succeeded in calming her brother. He just sighed and rested his head on the mattress of the bed behind him.

"Whatever, we are going to know today anyway. That's what mum said, right?" Fred asked after entering the room. He'd been trying to listen if any of the adults said anything about the subject, but to no avail.

"Everyone is already here. This has to be it... right?"

"Should we go-" Hermione was cut short by Molly calling for them to go downstairs.

They looked at each other in silence and made their way down slowly. This time they were actually nervous, and something was telling them that what was about to happen was something they could not expect.

Inside the room was Sirius, Molly, Arthur, Remus, Tonks, and Albus Dumbledore.

That last member was a surprise, and it only helped to make them even more nervous.

_This is big_, they thought.

"Uh... well... what we are about to..." Molly started but Albus stopped her. She looked relieved at that.

"It's okay Molly, let me explain. Would you please take a seat?" He asked slowly, trying to soothe the teenagers nerves. It wasn't too helpful because the adults looked rather worried, and that was definitely not a good sign. Albus sat on a chair so he could face them all directly.

"What we are about to confide you, we do it because more than once you have shown that you can be trusted. However, on this particular matter, it's not only about trust, it's also about the danger in which we could put very important people, if the matter is not assessed with the upmost care. What I'm saying is that you will be told an important secret, and if you are willing to keep it, you will have to make an Unbreakable Vow. If you are not willing, your memory of the moment will have to be erased. Are you okay with this?"

The kids looked at each other and nodded. The sound of the door opening made them turn their heads at the same time. Three people entered the room. Two were unknown to them, but the third one made them really wonder _what the hell_ was really going on. Severus Snape stood in the room with two women, one that looked at least five or six years younger than him, and one that had to be at least seventeen.

"You are all aware of who Professor Snape is, I'm sure." Albus said with a smile on his eyes. They looked at Severus frowning, and could barely notice him resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"I'm Juliana." said the older woman with a slight accent none of them coud recognize. "And this is Cassandra."

"Cassie, please." The younger girl said as she waved at them with the smallest smile. Five pair of eyes turned to look at her and for the first time paid close attention.

In about five seconds their minds recognized that this girl had deep black hair that was _too familiar,_ and definitely didn't match with the color the woman standing next to her, obviously her mother. The girl did have her nose and her body shape, but her hair... and _her eyes_. Every single one of them knew those eyes. Hell, every student in Hogwarts knew those eyes (and were probably afraid of them).

They were, without a doubt, Severus Snape's eyes.

* * *

**This is were the author notes go, right? Um, okay. So I decided to make this story because it's something I wanted to happen and obviously no one was going to make it... but I'm really new at this writing thing and english isn't even my native language (it's spanish). So if any human being reads this and thinks "Omg this is wrong" and wishes to correct me YOU ARE DEFINITELY WELCOME. DO IT.**

**Also, this story is not intended to be super deep or long, I actually want it to be short and pretty shallow just to calm my need to see this happening. It's obviously AU, and the main focus is the relationship between Cassie and Fred, and her mother Juliana with Severus. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Um so here's Chapter two, so everyone out there who's reading the story can see how the format of the story is going to be. Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorite!**

**There is a line bolded on italics. That means that part is spoken on portuguese.**

* * *

Severus Snape was not a patient man. But as you probably know, every rule has an exception, and his exceptions were his wife and daughter.

Juliana met him on his last year at Hogwarts. She was an exchange student from Brazil who, and as soon as she arrived, began to get treated like everyone's new favourite toy. That was something he found utterly stupid and annoying. But, unknown to him, so did she.

She got sorted into Hufflepuff, what became the main reason he completely ignored her. She, on the other side, could not bring herself to not think about him. Once she laid her eyes on him, every other boy in the school became irrelevant.

They never shared classes and for that he was grateful. It was not entirely because of her specifically, but because he despised Hufflepuffs. They were weak, dumb, and absolutely disposable. He never saw the point to that house apart from the fact that it reunited all the garbage other houses didn't want. For him, being sorted into Hufflepuff was worse that being sorted into Gryffindor, it meant you just weren't good enough.

Of course it didn't take long to Juliana to realize this. The Slytherin table were always making fun of them and treating them as if they were dirt. She was angry, yes, but in no little time she learned to ignore them like all her housemates did. It definitely sounded cliché, but they were just _not worth it_.

* * *

The first time they talked was in a greenhouse. Juliana loved spending time there because they reminded her of her home. Education in Brazil was very different, and she couldn't help but consider this an adventure. For starters, they didn't use a wand. Kid's magical abilities showed up when they were little and they usually started their training at 5. Another big difference was the fact that they were very close to the "muggle" society (God, she hated that word), and they studied their school subjects as well. She was used to consider wizards and witches and non wizard and witches as equals, and the concept that it wasn't like that on this school was very hard for her to completely understand.

On her hand she had a bowl and was carefully touching a plant on the opposite side of the greenhouse entrance. That's why she didn't hear him enter, and he didn't hear her speaking until he started walking to where she was, still oblivious to her presence.

"**_You are absolutely gorgeous. I love how they take care of you here. I promise I'm only taking one, that's all I need. May I?_**" Her voice was low and he walked fast until he finally saw her. She was carefully removing one petal from a red plant_. And she was talking to the plant_. Why would she talk to a plant? Was she stupid?

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" he asked. If she was actually talking to a plant she was more of an idiot than he had initially thought.

Said thought was only reinforced when he paid attention to her appearance: she was barefoot, her shirt was out of her skirt, which was folded and was shorter, and her tie was being used to keep her hair from falling. She jumped and brought her hand to her chest.

"Jesus, you nearly gave me a heart attack." She tried to joke but he didn't laugh. She rolled her eyes. "I'm allowed to be here, I have a note." She said before taking a piece of parchment out of her pocket and waving it with her hand in front of his face. He didn't realize he had moved closer.

"I didn't mean that, I mean why were you talking to a plant?" Her eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened.

"You are joking right?" His serious face showed that he wasn't. "Aren't you Severus Snape? I had been told you were good at potions and herbology. Not so good apparently." She finished lowly with a dry laugh and turned again to her bowl picking it with the rest of her stuff.

His face quickly morphed into anger and he barely resisted the urge to scream at her that she was an idiot. She put her shoes on and tried to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm to stop her. They were really close now, and her heart was beating so fast she tought it was going to pop out of her chest.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He said, gritting his teeth.

"First of all." She said taking his hand from her arm and freeing herself, even though he didn't want to let her go. "If you ever grab me like that again I swear I will make my life goal to destroy you." She said in a serious tone looking at him dead in the eye. He took a step back, realizing they were too close, and instantly looked at her with disdain.

"Second..." She added and the angry look disappeared from her face as fast as it came. "And just because I'm a good person and I know you're excellent at potions... yes, I was just trying to piss you off before..." She said while searching on her bag for something, while he looked at her with a frown. "Umm, no, no, not this one, no, portuguese, portuguese. Aha! Here we go." She said smiling as she pulled a book from her bag. "This is the only book I have on English that actually has some of what we learn in Brazil. I have tons of others that have the same things but they are on portuguese, so you can keep this one. And before you ask, no. They can't be translated by any of your spells." She tried to hand him the book but he wouldn't take it, so she left it on the table. "I have to go, it's getting late. Read it, you'll see it probably has knowledge you've never heard of. Oh, and the answer to why was I talking to a plant is there." She smiled at him and left.

The entire situation had him so confused that he spent some good minutes just standing there trying to find some sense. _What had just happened? _

He looked at the book for some time before putting it inside his bag and leaving.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okaaay, here's the third chapter, it's a bit longer than the others. Enjoy it! Or don't!**

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"Close your mouths." Snape said monotonously. "I am aware you have realized by now the gravity of the situation."

"Bloody hell!" Ron screamed while pulling his hair with both hands.

"RONALD!" Molly tried to scold him but he wasn't listening.

"How is that even-? You don't have a ring!" He squealed suddenly, pointing at his hand.

Severus looked at him and sneered. "Don't I, Mr. Weasley?" Juliana could barely contain her smile at the kid's face.

"That was not there! I SWEAR THAT RING WAS NOT THERE A MOMENT AGO." Ron was the only one talking, the others where still quiet.

"Perception spell." Hermione said suddenly and every head turned to look at her.

"You are right, Miss Granger. The ring on Severus hand has a complicated spell that allows him to wear his ring without anyone noticing. Perception Spells are very common and easy, but they are also easily broken. For this one to work the casting of the spell was very difficult, since we needed to be able to fool Lord Voldemort himself. It also has a bonding spell that has allowed us to help both Severus and Juliana more than once, when it was very needed. I hope that answers your doubt of why they just don't stop using them."

"So long story short, If word gets out that my father is married and has a child, they kill us both and him. And you don't want the only spy you have on Voldemort's side to die, believe me." Cassandra spoke for the second time. "Now, where am I gonna stay? I really need to sleep. And a window. I really need a open window and a backyard. Do you have that?" She asked Sirius and he nodded. "God. I can't breathe here." She finished as she sighed.

"Now Cassandra, before that we need to know if they are willing to make the vow." Dumbledore said looking at each one of them.  
A chorus of "Yes I am" and "Yes" were heard, and one by one they performed the vow.

"I really need to get out, I can't breathe." Cassandra said lowly to her mother with her hands balled into fists.

"So Sirius, about that backyard you had..." Juliana said and Sirius led them outside, to a small place with overgrown grass and leaves everywhere.

"Oh Jesus Christ." Cassandra whispered worriedly and immediately took her shoes off and went out.  
Sirius and her mother came back to the room where everyone was silent, except for Albus and Severus who were talking privately.

"Now why don't you go and introduce yourselves to Cassandra, I don't think you've noticed that you haven't yet." Molly said with a smile and ushered them out of the room.

Once they reached the door Fred was the first one to speak.

"How come Sirius never told us he had a backyard?" He asked a bit annoyed.

"Because this can't be considered as one" said Cassandra from the spot on the floor where she was sitting, taking deep and slow breaths. _She is right_, Fred thought. The place was barely bigger than a bathroom and was covered by cement walls that were tall as the roof of the house. Still, it had grass so things could grow there, and it kind of had fresh air, which was a relief after all the dust the house had inside.

"Sorry we didn't introduce ourselves inside, but you need to understand that this is as big as a shock can get. If there was something we never thought could happen, was probably this. Merlin. That came out really rude. Sorry. I'm Ginny." The redhead extended her hand and Cassandra shook it with a smile. "This are my brothers Fred, George, and Ron, and that's his friend Hermione." Everyone waved awkwardly and she smiled.

"I'm Cassie, I told you already..." No one talked and the tension in the air could be sliced with a knife. "This is _so_ awkward." She said with a laugh and shook her head. "So you all go to Hogwarts right?" When they nodded, she continued. "I was supposed to go there this year, you know, but things got so messed up that I'm going to Salem. My parents say that it's much safer there, because Voldemort's is still pretty much only big on Europe, but whatever. I wanted to go to Hogwarts. Anyway, anything works, to be honest. I need the experience. Apart from my father I don't know other people who actually use wands." She smiled at them. "I'm the only one talking here, I better shut up and go." She laughed shyly again but it was cut short by one of the twins. She didn't know which one it was.

"People who actually use wands? What does that mean?" She raised her eyebrows.

"You know... people who use wooden sticks to make magic... you use wands right? I mean everyone here uses wands as far as I am concerned." She asked confused.

"Do people not use wands where you come from?" The other twin asked and paused. "Where do you come from?"

"Um no... no one does. It's too dangerous to rely on a wand. If they take it from you, you are basically defenseless. I'm from Brazil, by the way."

"Okay we need to talk." Hermione said and after that they all went to the girls room. It had a big window, and Cassandra automatically opened when she entered.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Ginny asked while sitting on her bed.

"No, not really." She said while inhaling fresh air from outside before sitting on a chair. "I just feel sick on places like this one, neglected for so long that they _smell abandoned_. I'm used to being outdoors most of the time." She smiled weakly.

"Uh... so about your magic..." Hermione started and they all looked at her.

"Yeah, what do you want to know?"

"Well everything basically. I mean, I never studied any other types of magic, I didn't know some people didn't need wands..." she was cut off by Cassie.

"No one needs wands actually." Hermione raised her eyebrows. "I mean..." She struggled to find the right words. "You know when you are a kid and you start blowing things up or making things float, your first sings of being a witch or a wizard?" They nodded. "Well you are not using a wand, and yet you still can do it. But in your culture, it's stated that you need a wand to canalize your magic and avoid making mistakes. On my culture, we are taught control for the first time when we start showing any signs. Start teaching kids at a very young age makes them able to fully control their powers without needing to use a wand. Of course there are disadvantages. I mean, you can say a word a fix a broken glass, I can't do it without a wand, I don't know what my patronus is, at least for now. But when you need to say _incendio_, I can do this." She extended her hand and a flame erupted from it, floating in the air. She looked at their shocked expressions with a smile and closed her hand, the flame dying.

"Since we are kids, we are taught control of the elements, and when we turn seventeen, we can choose to be part of an exchange program to go to a magic school in Europe or North America to familiarize with their customs, and they can send one of their students to familiarize with ours. This year Europe won't get anyone, though. It's too dangerous, and everyone knows it." Her expression turned sad and everyone was silent for a few minutes.

"Aren't you gonna talk? I feel really stupid doing all the talking." She said scratching the back of her head, looking at the floor.

"I'm sorry." One of the twins said suddenly and she looked up. "I'm hardly at loss of words and honestly there are a million things I could say but most of them can be considered as rude or inappropriate." Cassandra laughed.

"I think I'd be the judge of that." She replied and he looked like he was thinking what he was going to say.

"You speak english very well." Ron interrupted him and she rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Thank you, I have a British father after all."

"Yeah about that how did that happen? He had to be really young when your mother got pregnant." Her face morphed and Fred knew he made a mistake. "Sorry, forget I asked." He said quickly.

"No, it's okay it's not that. _He was_ really young after all. And it was a mistake. I'd never say this to anyone I have just met but on the other side, you have just made an Unbreakable Vow to protect me and my mother so..." She ran a hand trough her hair and Fred cursed himself. She was silent for some time, searching the right words to say on her mind.

"Well... my mom met my father on his last year at Hogwarts, stuff happened, they started dating on secret. She got sorted into Hufflepuff, and if Slytherins knew what he was doing, they were going to kill her and him. And I mean in literally. My father's classmates were mostly Death Eaters in training." She stopped and took a deep breath. "Now it gets kinda awkward to tell you, but whatever. My parents are both exceptional at making potions, and they were both able to brew a contraceptive potion that was to be drank after having sex." They scrunched up their faces at that. "Don't look at me like that, I did tell you it was awkward. Well, there was one day, about two months before the school year ended and they graduated, word got out that my mom was madly in love with my dad. They didn't know it wasn't unrequited. The Slytherins already despised Hufflepuffs and hated my mom. So one night when she was going back to her dorm, they hexed so bad that she spent a week unconscious on the infirmary." They were surprised at this, but didn't interrupt her. "That meant that the only way to avoid getting pregnant was to make an abortion. Which she didn't want. She knew this was going to change her life and most likely ruin it..." they all cringed at her choice of words. "But she accepted it. My father, however, was feeling pretty damn guilty by then and told her that they couldn't see each other again because it was too dangerous. After that _something happened,_" she said with a tone that told them not to ask what it was, "and he joined the Death Eaters, completely ignoring her until Voldemort's downfall. That's when Dumbledore helped her and she was finally able to tell him that he had a three year old daughter. You imagine the rest." She finished, her voice starting to shake. Everyone was quiet for a while.

"I'm sorry if I look like an idiot but this is so hard to believe, Snape is actually married..." She rolled her eyes at Fred/George.

"Yes he is married." uncomfortable silence filled the room. Cassie scratched the back of her head and rose from her chair. "Well... I kinda have to go unpack and all that so... see you later." she waved awkwardly and left.

* * *

As soon as she was gone, everyone started talking.

"How can she be Snape's daughter? She doesn't even look like him" Ron said.

"Yeah. she does. They have the same eyes and hair... hers is not so greasy though." Ginny reasoned. "Besides we don't even know her yet, she could be just like him, her personality, I mean."

"Like hell she could. She didn't look ready to kill. That's enough proof that she is not like him to me." Said George.

"But we still can't know. Anyway, can we stop talking about this? I still can't fully believe it and i really need to sleep my way through the understanding phase." Fred spoke. The others nodded, and with that he stood up and left the room with his twin behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

**You might think Severus is out of character.**

* * *

The second time Severus and Juliana met was in the library.

There was a quidditch game between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw that day, so neither of them wanted to go (as opposed to the rest to the school, or so it seemed, because the library was completely desolated).

On his first year, Severus had found a semi-hidden place on the very back of the library: it was a section where the books were mostly unused so now it was always empty. There was a big comfortable couch and some tables, and he could be on complete silence.

That day, however, there was a _slight_ change on his routine. When he was getting closer to his place, he heard some noises. He never did, so he carefully looked past one of the bookshelves and found a girl sitting on his couch. And not any girl, it was the Hufflepuff exchange student. He resisted the urge to scoff and settled for rolling his eyes and walking to her.

She was too immersed on her book to notice him approaching, so the sound of his voice made her jump.

"Is it always going to be like this? I don't like getting scared that much..." She said looking up at him with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" He asked roughly and she rolled her eyes.

"Reading. I thought it was pretty obvious." She said before going back to her book.

"You can't be here." He insisted.

"Why not? If you could please enlighten me." She said sarcastically, looking up again. The answer _Because I found this place and it's mine and it's the only place where I actually don't feel miserable and alone_ that popped up on his mind was not the one he was going to give her. Not consciously, at least, because when he saw her surprised face and how fast she got up from the couch he realized he had said it out loud.

"I'm sorry. Oh my god, I didn't... I mean... Uh... I'll leave, don't worry." She said picking up her stuff very quickly. "I'll leave you alone now." She said to him as she swung her bag on her shoulder, but before she left looked at him. "I know you probably can't stand me because I'm in Hufflepuff but... I'm up for talking, or just listening if you want to." She gave him a small smile and turned to go when she felt him grab her arm. This time wasn't like the last, though. It was gentle and she realized he hadn't moved since the last time he spoke.

"Don't go." He said looking at her in the eye for a few seconds before he blinked and let go of her arm. "I mean... we can both be here if we don't disturb each other." He finished and was surprised to see her smiling widely.

"Okay. Yeah." _She doesn't look disgusted, that's new, _he tought.

She left her bag on the table and pulled a chair to sit. She started to do her homework while he did whatever he was doing. She was too nervous to look at him.

When she dared to look up, his back was facing her and he was searching for a book. She couldn't help but admire his body, his hair, his hands. _The hands he had... long fingers... pretty, pretty hands... _His voice took her out of her trance and she realized she was staring at him.

"Sorry, what did you say?" She asked, embarrassed.

"The book you gave me. You were right. There were things I didn't know and will help me so... um... thank you." He finished and turned his head a bit to look at her.

She smiled brightly again and he really couldn't understand how was she smiling _so much_ at him. "You are welcome. Maybe we could... I mean, study together sometime...?" She said, and he supressed a smile. Someone actually wanting to study with him just because they wanted to was not something it happened everyday.

"Yeah... sure. If that's what you want." Severus wasn't really sure why he accepted. Maybe if the circumstances were different and he actually had a best friend like he used to he wouldn't crave for human contact so much that he'd accept to be near a Hufflepuff, let alone _her_. But right now he was lonely, and someone to talk to felt like the only thing that could keep him sane. That was the reason he accepted as valid at that moment, at least.

"Yes, it is. Definitely." She blushed again and looked down to her parchment. _She actually blushed? Why the hell was she blushing?_ "Oh, I'm Juliana, by the way. I'm pretty sure you didn't know my name." He had the decency to look embarrassed and she laughed again. He realized he never heard someone laugh so much on his presence since... _Lily_. That thought was enough to ruin his mood. He hoped she wouldn't notice, after all no one ever did, but she surprised him one more time.

Seeing the sudden change on his expression, Juliana became worried.

"What's wrong? And before you answer, even if you say 'nothing' I know something happened because I recognize that look. I've seen it a lot before." She turned serious and he sighed and sat on the chair opposite to hers.

"How do I know you can be trusted?" He asked even if deep inside he already knew he could, and probably did already. There was something about the way she smiled and talked and just _existed _that made him think she could be trusted. She looked at him in the eye and pointed at the yellow and black on her scarf.

"Loyalty is one of my many virtues." She replied with a smile. _She sure likes to smile a lot_.

"How do you know I deserve your loyalty?" He got serious, so she did too.

"How do I know you don't? I believe in something called the benefit of the doubt."

"Slytherins hate Hufflepuffs. I'm sure they have done something to you more than once." He reasoned.

"Is everything they do automatically your responsibility too? As far as I know, you have never even looked at me twice, so why would I care what other Slytherins have done to me? I'm trying to be your friend, not theirs." That answer caught him off guard.

"You're trying to be my friend? Why?" He was actually confused.

"Why wouldn't I? I can't think of a single reason I wouldn't want to be your friend." Juliana realized he had very serious confidence issues. There was nothing wrong with trying to make him feel a little better.

"I can. I can think of thousands of reasons."

"Do tell, please." She said, crossing her arms.

"It just doesn't make any sense that someone like you could possibly want to be even near someone like me." He hadn't realized he had let his walls fall down, but she did.

"What is exactly _someone like you_ and _someone like me_? Someone like you has to be someone outstandingly smart, for sure, and someone like me has to be the new girl who, even if she gets a lot of attention, hasn't found anyone who _really_ wants to be her friend."

The look on his face was priceless. That answer he wasn't expecting.

"I know that you see yourself as less than others and that sometimes you wish you could be someone else, because their lives seem so much easier than yours. I feel it too, Severus." She paused. "Do you want us to be alone together?" She gave him a little smile.

"That doesn't make sense."

"I know, and that's not an answer."

Silence.

"Okay."


	5. Chapter 5

**If you find any character to be different to what they really are remember what I already said: **

**-I'm only writing this story to satisfy the need to see something I wanted to happen finally happening, **

**-This is my first story and english is not my native language, which only makes it harder for me to write certain things I wouldn't have any trouble writing in spanish.**

**Okay. That being said, here's the fifth chapter.**

* * *

"George." Silence. "George." Silence. "George!"

"What the bloody hell do you want? Let me sleep." His twin managed to say with his head buried on his pillow.

"I can't sleep, George, wake up." The only response he got was loud snoring, and with a groan he got out of his bed.

Fred hadn't been able to close his eyes since he had laid his head on his pillow. He had too many things he wanted to know on his mind and just couldn't stop thinking about them. Obviously all the answers for this questions could be easily found on one person, who was currently living in the same house as him. But he felt too intimidated to even try to talk to her. Not intimidated _by her_, but by her father. He knew Severus Snape was not a man you wanted to cross, and what a better way to cross him than pissing off his daughter by asking something he shouldn't?

With all of that on his head he made his way down the stairs as quietly as he could. The house was very dark, so he used his wand to see the way.  
When he got to the kitchen he served himself a glass of milk and sat on the table. He was deep in thought when the sound of footsteps took him out of his trance. On the door appeared Cassie, who looked surprised to see him there.

"Oh, hello." She said with a smile he returned. "I was just going to get a glass of water."

"Do you want some?" He asked her pointing to his own glass.

"No, I don't really like milk. But thanks."

Awkward silence.

"So..." He started and coughed to diffuse the tension. It didn't work. "Your parents..." She looked at him with her eyebrows raised as she finished her glass of water.

"What about my parents?"

"Did they leave already?" She laughed quietly.

"Yeah." She put the glass back on the cupboard. "You shouldn't feel like you need to make small talk, you know. If it doesn't come naturally just don't do it. I'm going back to bed."

"No, wait!" She turned and looked at him. "I wasn't trying, I mean, I was, but I really wanted to...? Did that make sense? I'm not usually like this, I'm not really used to not knowing how to deal with things getting awkward..." She came back and sat beside him.

"So you just turn your cool and bubbly self off during the night? Or am I just making you uncomfortable? Actually, am I making you all feel uncomfortable?" He was about to answer but she cut him off. "Be honest, please." He spent a little time trying to find the right words.

"Speaking hypothetically, If I were to tell you that we all kind of absolutely hate your father... on a scale from one to royally pissed, how angry would you be?" She smiled and played along.

"Hypothetically?" He nodded and smiled back. "Well I'd say about... one." He raised his eyebrow.

"One? Wow. That's very not angry. Are you sure? It doesn't bother you that we absolutely despise your father and more than once dreamed about making his life a living hell?"

"Well when you put it like that it does make me angry. But it only means that he is doing what he's supposed to do and he is doing it well. He has a reputation to maintain. His life depends on it.** Literally**." She looked at him and then down at her hands.

"Never thought about it that way." Fred said after a while.

"Of course not, you were to busy thinking how to make his life a living hell." This time they both laughed.

"You know, I never tought Snape could actually get married, let alone have children, and I would've never believed that his child could be like you."

"What do you mean?"

"This will come out as rude. I apologize in advance so you've got nothing on me." She rolled her eyes. "I think that I would have believed that If Snape had a daughter she would be an exact image of him, but female. Never would've expected to be someone... like you." He finished lamely.

"Okay. I'm just gonna take that as a compliment and we can both be happy."

"Yes, thank you for that."

"I'm getting really sleepy here but I have one more thing to say: I know my father probably gave you hell these past years but I can assure you he didn't do it without a reason. He is not evil, contrary to popular belief." She rose from her chair. "And with that I bid you goodnight. Bye Fred."

"Goodnight." he replied with a smile. "Wait, how do you know I'm Fred?" She smiled cheekily and looked at his chest, where a big "F" could be seen.

She laughed at him and he joined her. She laughed harder because his laugh was too infectious.

"Keep it down you're going to wake every one up." He whispered while gesturing to her wildly with his hands, trying to get her to shut up. She just covered her mouth with her hands but the muffled sound was even funnier, so she kept laughing. He stood up from his chair and tried to go to where she was but on the way he tripped.

"Fred!" She gasped and he was expecting to hit the hard ground but it never happened. His eyes were closed and he could feel the wind on this face. _Wait, what?_ He opened his eyes to find himself looking at the ground with Cassie in front of him with her hands extended. She carefully lowered the air blast that was keeping him up and and he stood again.

"What the hell was that?" He asked with wide eyes.

"I told you we are taught to control the elements... Th-"

"What else can you do? Would you show me?"

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Of course!"


	6. Chapter 6

After a few weeks, Juliana started to notice that when Severus opened up to her, when he really talked about his problems, he didn't completely realize what he was doing. Even if he knew she was there listening and talking to him, it mostly felt like he was talking to himself, trying to talk about what was happening like he didn't already know it. Like he was trying to convince himself of something.

Almost every day after classes and before dinner they were on the library, talking, studying, and just being together. She realized that the best way to get him to open up was to not say anything whenever she saw he arrived upset. After a little while he just started speaking on his own, while she listened to everything he said. After he finished, she calmed him down.

He always asked her about her day, if she was having any troubles, and listened just like she did with him.

"Juliana..." he started one day while they were studying.

"Yes?" She replied without looking up.

"Does not bother you that we are keeping this friendship as a secret?" She closed her eyes, sighed and stopped writing.

"We have talked about this."

"Yes, we have. But sometimes..." He took a deep breath and looked at her in the eye. "Sometimes I wish we could just spend time together in other places. Without worrying about what people would think."

"You know I do too. But you have to be reasonable. You were the one who told me that if your housemates knew about it, we're as good as dead." He sighed and run his hands through his hair.

"I know. I know. Forget I said anything."

"Who would have thought you'd want to be spending time with a Hufflepuff. We're not so bad after all, right?" She tried to joke after a while.  
He smiled at her attempt to lighten the mood. "Just you, I still think they are mostly idiots." He answered, returning to his work.

"That's not fair. You don't even have classes with Hufflepuffs now. How on Earth could you know how they are like?" She was definitely getting angry at this point. He always tried to avoid the subject of her being on _that house_, and he had done it quite well so far, but apparently this time there was no escape.

"When was the last time they won the House Cup?" She opened her mouth in surprise and raised her eyebrows.

"You can't be serious! What's that have to do with anything?"

"If they can win the House Cup, it's because they don't get enough house points. If they don't get enough house points, it's because they hardly make anything worth them."

"You are such an asshole, Severus!" By now she was furious, and he was getting angry too. He couldn't be the one who was wrong, he had been on the school for seven years, she had only been there for a few months. "Do you really think house points are what measure how good or smart a person can be?"

"Yes. What else could possibly prove it?"

"There is no need to prove you are smart! You just are! They don't need house points or answering everything to know they are! And you know what?" she said picking her stuff and putting everything on her bag with more force and speed than usual. She got up and turned his chair so he was facing her, and brought her face down so their noses were just centimetres apart. "If you tell someone that they are worthless every day, after some time they will end up believing it. Even if they're not. You of all people should know that." She left before he could even begin to think of an answer. He cursed and left the library shortly after her.

* * *

"Are you okay Juliana? You've been looking a little down these days." Asked Amanda, one of the kind-of-friends she had made on her time in the school.

"Yeah." she replied with a weak smile. "I'm just getting sick, I think." Amanda didn't look like she believed her, but knew best than to ask about something when it was obvious the other person didn't want to talk about it.

"Okay, if you need anything just tell any of us, yeah?" She said pointing at herself and the people surrounding her. Juliana looked at them one by one, deep in thought. _How could anyone call them idiots?_ They were, without a doubt, the best people you could find on the school. What was left for the world if being loyal, kind and hard working was considered the same as being weak and stupid? _That_ was a depressing thought.

She put her fork down and after saying goodbye, left the table to go to her dorm.

She wasn't getting sick, of course, she was just sad. What Severus said hurt. It really did. She knew this people, they were absolutely amazing. They just didn't want to be the center of attention and didn't care about being the best. That wasn't a bad thing, was it?

No. Of course not.

Everyone was still in the Great Hall, so she was walking alone down the halls. Or so she tought. When she turned the corner she bumped into someone. She inwardly cursed. Who else could it be?

"Juliana. Can we talk?" Severus said in a whisper.

"I have to go, and we can't be seen together." She answered curtly.

"Please. It's important." She sighed and nodded. He grabbed her hand and motioned her to follow him.

"A closet? Nice." She said after he locked the door with his wand and put a silencing charm on it. "What did you need?" She asked crossing her arms. She really wanted to forgive him for what he said, but in order to do that, he needed to be sorry.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry for what I said the other day. I've been thinking a lot about how I should apologize and I know I was wrong and I really don't know any Hufflepuffs beside you because for years I have been told that they weren't worth my time and that they were less than me and I just didn't know better. But I know they're not. I know. Because of you. I am truly sorry for what I did." It was dark and he couldn't see the smile forming on her face. When she was about to answer that he was obviously forgiven he interrupted her. "I understand if you don't want us to be friends anymore. And I won't bother you again. I just wanted to make sure you knew th-"

"Wait, what? No, hold up there. I don't want us to stop being friends! Why would you even think that! I just wanted you to apologize! Oh my god I'm sorry if I made you think that!" She cried out worriedly and, to his surprise, hugged him.

They never hugged before, and at first he didn't know what to do. After a few seconds he hugged back and pressed his face on her hair. She smelled like coconut and nature. He loved it. He closed his eyes and got lost in the moment, until she pulled away a bit to look at him. Their eyes connected and their noses were barely touching.  
He didn't know what she was doing until he realized she was looking at his lips and was beginning to lean in.

"What are you doing?" He asked slowly in a whisper, afraid that she might pull away. She didn't.

"Can I kiss you?" she asked in the same tone.

"Yes, please." He finished and closed the distance between their faces.

Neither of them would want to say it out loud and admit that the romantic crap was actually not so far from the truth, but they couldn't deny what they were feeling. There were stars and fireworks and butterflies and electricity and it just felt _so right_. Juliana deepened the kiss as he picked her up and pulled her even closer to him. After a few minutes they were both breathless and **nothing** could erase the smiles from their faces.


	7. Chapter 7

When George woke up the next morning, he was surprised to see his brother looking at him, wide awake.

"Did you sleep... at all? Your eyes look kinda red." He asked as he sat on his bed and stretched his arms.

"Sleep? Of course I didn't sleep. I didn't sleep at all last night. I'm suspecting that in a few hours I'll faint, but right now I won't."

"Fred, are you okay?" George asked walking to his twin's bed, trying to take a closer look.

"I'm more than okay George! You need to see it! You don't know how amazing it is! And she said that anyone can learn it with time! We could be anyone! The things we could do!" He screamed grabbing him from his shoulders and shaking him.

"Who's she? Cassandra? What are you talking about?" George asked, confused.

"Yes Cassandra! Oh the things _she_ can do! At first it was all air and then water and fire and the grass got greener and it's _so cool_. But you need to see it for yourself."

"Okay... " he said slowly and walked to the bathroom. Fred followed.

"Where is she now?" he asked as he started to brush his teeth.

"In her room, I suppose. But you can't see now. She is probably sleeping. She got really tired at the end of the demonstration." Fred said.

"Demonstration of what?" George asked.

"HER MAGIC!" He answered.

* * *

When they arrived on the kitchen for breakfast, Fred wasn't surprised to see that Cassie wasn't there. They went to bed around six and it had only been three hours from that.

"Why isn't Cassie here?" Ginny asked.

"The poor dear said she didn't get any sleep last night. It was her first night here, after all. I'll wake her up for lunch. Anyway. Don't worry about her. Today you are going to do cleaning!" Molly said.

A chorus of groans was heard and Molly scoffed. "I won't have any of that. Now finish your breakfast and start working."

* * *

They cleaned until it was time for lunch.

"Hermione, can you go wake Cassandra up? I'm sure she's hungry by now." Molly requested and Hermione nodded and went upstairs. Five minutes later, she came down alone.

"She's not answering. And I'm pretty sure I heard snoring. She must be really worn out, I don't think she'll want to eat anything." She explained.

"Oh, poor thing. I'll save something for her." Molly said.

Fred and George looked at each other and rose from the table at the same time.

"Wonderful meal, mum." Began George.

"Absolutely marvelous, probably the best so far, if I say so myself." Continued Fred.

"But we really think that we should go back to our work."

"Because the house really needs to be cleaned, and we just love doing it!" They both smiled as their mother looked at them with narrowed eyes and disapparated with aloud _crack_.

"I told them to stop doing that! Merlin!" They heard Molly scream from downstairs.

"Now my dear Fred, do you really think our friend is sleeping or do you think we could finally find our little snoring device?" George said with a smile.

"Well George, I think we should incline for the latter. But anyway, why did we even make a little snoring device? How useful can it be?" He asked his brother with a frown.

"I don't know," he answered stopping in front of Cassie's room. "We should ask Cassandra, who, as I hear, is sleeping rather soundly, with all that snoring going on. I think it would be a shame is someone found out that she was lying..." he said rather loudly with his mouth close to the door.

They waited a few seconds and the door opened.

"Shut up." Cassie said in a playful tone. "Come in and don't say a word."

They both entered her room and instantly began rummaging through her stuff. When they finally got bored of asking _what is this?_ and _what does this do?_, they settled for finally asking her why was she pretending to be asleep.

"I just need to write quite a lot on this letters and once I really get into it, if I stop for too long I can't start writing again because my mind drifts away. That's why. My mom is coming today and she is the one who's going to deliver them, so I need to finish." She replied without looking up from the paper she was writing on.

"You know, Cassie..." Fred started.

"We were wondering how could this pretty little thing..." George said picking up a little blue box that was on her dresser.

"Ended up in your room, when yesterday it was in ours." She smiled and continued writing.

"Oh it was? It must have been another one. I believe I've been having that box all my life." She responded in a mocking serious tone.

"Oh really?" Fred played along. "Then what does these W's mean on the bottom?"

"Those?" She said looking up and he nodded.

"Something like Weasley Wizard Wheezes, I think." Their smiles fell instantly.

"How the bloody hell do you know that?" Fred whisper/screamed at her, not loud enough to be heard by anyone else outside the room.

"What were you doing prying in our room? That was private!" George said in the same tone. Her mood changed in a second.

"You better not use that tone with me again." She said as angry as they were. She got up from her chair, pulled a paper from drawer on her nightstand and threw it to their feet. "This," she said pointing at the paper that read _Weasley Wizard Wheezes Skiving Snackboxes_ and had some drawings of the products they contained, "fell from YOUR pocket last night along with that goddamn snoring thing, before you went to bed. Be fucking thankful I was the one who found it and not your mother. I can imagine how fun that would've been." She said sarcastically, talking directly to Fred. "Now take your shit and leave." She finished walking to the door and opening it. She was absolutely pissed by now.

The twins, on the other side, were beginning to look ashamed.

"We're sorry." They said at the same time.

"Good." She replied crossing her arms.

"I had forgotten I put it in my pocket. I thought it was in our room." Fred said walking to her. "I'm sorry for assuming. I know it was wrong." Well, it certainly was hard to be mad too long when they sounded all serious and worried.

"No, it's okay. I should have given it to you instead of keeping it, anyway. It just that those designs looked really cool and I wanted to see what they were. That was an invasion of privacy, I'm sorry." She looked up at them and smiled.

"Do we still have to leave or..." George asked playfully.

"Nah, you can stay if you like." She replied walking to her desk and sitting before she began writing again. "But close the door, they still think I'm asleep."

George did as told and they both sat on her bed while they watched her writing. They were silent for approximately 15 seconds.

"So... who are you writing?" Fred said as he examined the things on her nightstand, wondering why she didn't stop him from touching everything.

"My friends from Brazil. I'm almost done, actually."

"No boyfriend?" he asked and George laughed.

"Smooth." He whispered.

"No boyfriend." She confirmed as she began put the last letter on an envelope. He smiled goofily and George nudged him on the side.

"Control yourself, man." he whispered laughing at his twin.

"Shut up." Fred nudged him back.

That was the beginning of silent fight Cassandra found hilarious. After some time enjoying the show, she coughed and they stopped, surprised.

"I don't even want to know." She laughed. "So... about that piece of paper I found. Am I allowed to ask anything about it or is it super confidential?"

"It is super confidential." Fred began and George followed.

"But we think you can be trusted."


	8. Chapter 8

**This is the longest chapter so far.**

**Warning: it contains Sirius bashing.**

* * *

Severus and Juliana loved spending time together, but with having to keep their relationship as a secret, they couldn't be together too much apart from the time they were at the library. However, they came up with a solution: sneak out of their dormitories almost every night. Avoiding the prefects was not too difficult, so they didn't have any problems. At least for the first week.

One night Severus met Juliana by the kitchens -because they were the closest place to her dorm- and when they moved closer to kiss, both of them felt the hair on the back of their necks stand up.

"Someone's following us." Juliana whispered to Severus as he hugged her.

"I know." Was his low reply.

Before they pulled away Juliana already had felt Severus reach for his wand. So she wasn't surprised when she heard him whisper/scream _Homenum Revelio. _What surprised her was the person that appeared in front of them.

"Black? What the hell are you doing following us?" Juliana asked, annoyed.

"Well, I wasn't _following_ you." He started with a smug smile. "I just happened to be around here at the same time as you. I have better things to do with my time than chasing you, Snivellus." he said with disdain. Severus was furious. Juliana held his hand to help calming him down, and the gesture didn't go unnoticed by Sirius.

"So you two really are a thing?" He said, mockingly. "Now that's a good joke. Someone wanting to spend time with you on their own will? Don't worry Juliana, in no time you will be running away from him. I know Lily did." Severus hand was gripping his wand so hard his knuckles were completely white.

"Black. Get out of here or I'll make you pay for it. And you better shut up about this or you will regret it." Said Severus in a low and very dangerous tone. Juliana was getting worried. Sirius was enjoying every second of it, and he had on his mind just the right thing to finish him off.

"You know, Juliana..." He said coming closer, Severus wand now pointing at him. He didn't care. "A girl like you could do so much better. And what's better on this school than Sirius Black?" He winked at her and she resisted the urge to gag.

"You know, Sirius..." She said walking to him and letting go of Severus hand, who began to have an inner panic attack. _Of course she is going to go with him_, he thought. Sirius was smiling wide."I'm only saying this once, because even if I think you are as dumb as troll, I have hope that you'll understand this simple sentence." His smile vanished, along with Severus inner struggle. "I would rather drop dead than be seen with you. Or any of your friends for that matter. I don't think what kind of charm you think you have, but I assure you the only reaction I get when you are near me is an excessive urge to vomit." He took a step back and she moved closer. "And..." she lowered her voice so only he could listen. "You. Smell. Like. A. Dog." He looked her in the eye and he realized _she knew_. Her smug smile only served as confirmation. "You are going to do whatever you have to do to make sure no one knows about me and him."

"Why the hell would I do that? Weren't Hufflepuffs supposed to be kind and all that crap?" He said with malice and narrowed eyes. She laughed dryly.

"Kind, yes. Not stupid. We know better to not give kindness to those who do not deserve it. And what could possibly make you think you, of all people, do? You know, Sirius... I, myself, believe that in the end, you get what you give." She grabbed his bare wrist and held it tightly on her hand. "You are going to make sure **no one** knows about him and me." She repeated and he felt his wrist getting hot. Too hot. It was painfully hot. He gasped in pain.

"What are you doing? LET ME GO!" He screamed and she let go of his arm.

"What I'm doing is giving you a reason. That," she said pointing at his burned wrist, "is a second degree burn. Doing that to you was as easy as breathing for me. You don't want to know what else I can do if you do not do as I say. And stay away from us. You have the way to the infirmary to make up a story about how you got yourself burned. Now, leave." Sirius was beyond pissed at this point but did not argue, he just left.

When he was finally gone she let out a heavy breath and turned to see Severus. However, as she was turning she was pulled into a strong embrace and felt a pair of lips crashing hungrily into hers. She was surprised but did not hesitate to return both the kiss and embrace. When they finally parted to breathe she had a dizzy smile on her face. That was the first time they kissed _like that_.

"Come." He said grabbing her hand and leading her to somewhere on the castle she didn't know. They stopped in front of a weird tapestry. He let go of her hand and began walking in front of it. He did it three times.

"Please, please..." he whispered and she looked at him with her eyebrows raised. He usually knew what he was doing, so she just waited. Just a few seconds later, a door began to appear on the wall. Her eyes opened wide.

"What the hell..." She said, dumbfounded. He sighed, relieved, and grabbed her hand again, opening the door to lead her inside.

If she was dumbfounded before, she didn't know what she felt right now. The room before her was absolutely beautiful: there were candles, carpeted floors, a big couch that looked like the most comfortable thing in the world; it was gorgeous. She turned to him to ask if he had made this for her but the surprised expression on his face told her the answer.

"What is this place?" Juliana asked.

"It's called the Room of Requirement. It appears when someone is in great need, and it adapts to what they want."

"So this is what you wanted?" She asked walking inside to lay into a pile of cushions that looked inviting. They felt like heaven. She closed her eyes and smiled. He couldn't help but smile too, seeing her there, and walked to lay down with her. She intertwined her fingers with his and turned to look at him, their faces really close.

"What I asked for was a nice place where could be together without being bothered." He said and leaned into her.

"This certainly does the job..." She whispered and closed the distance between them. They started a steamy make out session that ended up with her straddling him. However, as good as it felt, Severus really needed to talk to her first.

"Juliana, wait." She looked at him, her face becoming a mixture of scared, curious and worried.

"Why, what happened?" She said and lifted one of her legs so she wasn't straddling him anymore, but he stopped her, and kept her where she was.

"It's not that." He said with one hand caressing her hip where her shirt was lifted and the other going to caress her cheek removing a strand of loose hair from her eye. She sighed contentedly and smiled at him.

"What's wrong?" She asked and moved to lay on top of him, her mouth on his neck, kissing him softly. Now it was his turn to sigh contentedly.

"I brought you here because I think we need to talk about what happened earlier." He began and she buried her head on his hair and mumbled something he didn't get. "What?" He asked with a smile on his voice. "I can't understand you, love." She said something else and again it came out muffled. "I still don't know what you're saying."

"I said..." she began as she lifted her head and moved so they were both laying on their sides, facing each other with their legs tangled, his hand on her hip still and hers on his torso. "I love it when you call me that."

"When I call you what?" He asked.

"_Love_. Your accent and your voice make it sound _so_ nice." She said and blushed. He kissed her.

"Well... I love calling you that." She smiled. "But don't avoid the subject." She sighed.

"Fine, but you begin."

"Fair enough." He waited a few seconds, thinking the right way to say what he wanted. He opened his mouth to start a few times but closed it again. Finally, he spoke."When Black said that he was a better choice than me, and you let go of my hand, I honestly tought you were going to go with him." Her expression saddened instantly.

"Severus..." she said, hugging him.

"I just can't understand why you want to be with me. That's why I can't get why you did what you did to him."

"Severus." She said looking at him in the eye. "That fucking bastard had it coming. He tried to kill you for Christ's sake! And got away without being punished! I need you to understand that the fact that it didn't work out with Lily doesn't mean it's not going to work out between us. I want to be with you. I'm certain of it." He kissed her hungrily one more time and when they pulled away she had the dizzy smile again.

"We should never stop doing that." He smiled.

"You know... I could never believe a Hufflepuff could do what you did... I mean threatening and hurting someone like that. I don't mean it as a bad thing. I swear." She smiled.

"I wouldn't do that to someone who didn't deserve it. And to be honest, I think he does. I'm not really into violence but I was too pissed to care. And I wasn't going to go beyond that._ I'm not_ going to go beyond that, but he doesn't have to know that. Besides, he is such an asshole. And it is also the nature of a Hufflepuff to be loyal. Never forget it."

"Are you loyal to me? What does that mean?" He asked.

"It means I root for you. I doesn't mean I agree with everything you do or that I'm worshipping the ground you walk on, it means you can trust me and I won't betray you... unless you betray me first."

"I would never betray you." And with that they started kissing again.


	9. Chapter 9

**The bolded sentences are meant to be on portuguese.**

* * *

During the afternoon, Juliana arrived to the house with Tonks behind her. She greeted everyone who was in the room looked behind her quickly when she heard fast footsteps coming down the stairs. In no time, she was engulfed on a hug by her daughter.

**"I missed you too."** She said laughing.

**"How's dad?"** She asked immediately. The sad smile on her mother's face was all the answer she needed.

**"Tell him I love him next time you see him, please."** She returned the same smile.

**"I always do. Don't you think we should switch back to english, so no one feels left out?"** She succeeded in changing her daughter's mood.

**"Nah, let them suffer for a bit. Oh! I have the letters. They have their names on them and all that. Don't forget to tell them I said I missed them."**

"Will do." She replied in English.

"Are you really not gonna say hello? I forgave you the other day because it all was a stressful situation but if you really think you are going to ignore me again things will get dangerous." Cassie smiled wide at the sound of the voice behind her. She turned quickly and hugged Tonks with all the strength she had.

* * *

On Tonks' first year at Hogwarts, after she got sorted, professor Sprout told the first years about this amazing student that had come to the school a few years back and got sorted in the house. She told them her name but Tonks wasn't listening. She was an exchange student from Brazil who had a different way of performing magic and excelled at it. She didn't use a wand. Now that was something she wanted to know about. She perked up immediately. It got her so interested she couldn't think of anything else for a week. After that, she went to the professor's office to ask her more about this student. The professor said her name again: Juliana Souza.

She fell in love with that name. It sounded so exotic. It wasn't ugly like _Nymphadora_. She wished she had a name like that. When she wanted to know more, Professor Sprout told her that she could send her a letter. Tonks was overjoyed. It turned out that Pomona never lost touch with her former student, and now they were good friends. She assured her that Juliana wouldn't have any problem receiving mail, but she had to send her a letter telling her first. Tonks agreed. She would have agreed to any condition. She was sure Juliana was her hero. Well, as sure as an 11 year old could be. Tonks could do magic without a wand easily too, and she hadn't met anyone before who shared that quality. She wanted to know how she did it, and she wanted it to read it from her own hand.**  
**

The reply came two days after Pomona sent her letter. The answer was something along the lines of an excited "Yes! Of course! Let her send how many letters she wants!", and when Tonks read it, she almost felt pain on her face from smiling so wide.

Her first letter was shy and had some grammar mistakes. Tonks was trying to play it cool and don't act so interested, but Juliana felt on her words how really curious she was. So she replied answering every question in detail. On her second letter, Tonks was more confident, so she told her about her ability. Juliana was amazed and this time she was the one asking questions. When she got her reply, Tonks couldn't believe it. She was interested on the things she could do! So, on her third letter, along with her answers, she sent a picture. She was smiling and her hair was turning from violet to green. On her reply, Juliana said she was beautiful and sent a picture too. She was with a little girl, and it said her name was Cassandra and that she was her five year old daughter. Her picture wasn't moving, so she asked if she used a muggle camera. "My father has one too." She added. Of course, she also thanked her for telling she was pretty, and replied that Juliana was the most beautiful woman in the entire world. The picture was indeed taken by a muggle camera, and Tonks learned that she lived in a place where muggles and wizards lived side by side, sharing both customs and values. She was enamored with that idea.

The correspondence went for all that year, and on summer vacation, Tonks convinced her mother and father to go to Brazil before their vacation to Paris, just for a week. She whined so much after they refused that Andromeda, after she sent some letters of her own to Juliana (who insisted on them staying with her and her daughter) finally agreed. They traveled by portkey, and when they arrived, both girls were waiting for them. After they officially introduced, Tonks didn't even try and pretend to be shy. She instantly began talking to Juliana, asking things about the place, the weather, that was rather cold, and about the little girl who seemed to be hiding behind her mother's leg. _So this is Cassandra_, she thought.

"Who is this beautiful little girl?" Andromeda asked, leaning forward to take a better look at Cassie. She just got embarrassed and hid her face on her mothers leg again.

"This is Cassie. She doesn't speak too much english yet, she probably doesn't know what you said." Juliana answered. Andromeda's mouth formed an 'o' and she smiled. Tonks, however, was intrigued by the little girl. She had a paler complexion than her mother's, and jet black hair that reminded her of her dreadful Potions professor. She quickly erased that comparison, she didn't even want to think about school on holiday.

"Hi. I'm Tonks." She said to the little girl, who lifted her head a bit to look at her. Tonks crossed her eyes and changed her hair color very quickly multiple times, something that caught her attention immediately. She opened her eyes wide and Tonks laughed. "What is your name?"

"Cassie." She replied without taking her eyes off her hair.

And that was all it took, honestly. Cassandra wanted to be all day with Tonks. She was absolutely starstruck by her. Everything Tonks did, Cassie loved. She spent the whole week following after her, playing with her, laughing at the funny animal faces she made. Tonks enjoyed learning things from Juliana and spending time with Cassie.

When they finally had to leave, Cassie was crying and was holding onto Tonks for dear life.

"**Don'tgo.****Don'tgo.****Don'tgo.****Don'tgo.****Don'tgo.****Don'tgo.**" she said as she hugged her tightly.

"What is she saying?" She asked Juliana as she hugged her back and touched her hair.

"She is saying _don't go_ over and over again. I think she is very fond of you." Juliana said with a small smile.

"Ohhhh... she's so cute." Tonks replied and got an idea. "Could I write to her? Nothing long, I promise, and you could translate it at least until she understands on her own? Maybe she could write me back, too." she said excitedly.

"**Cassandra, Tonks said that she has to go now, but that you can write to her. Would you like to do that?**" Cassie lifted her tear-soaked face to look at her mother and nodded. It didn't take too long after that to convince her to let go of Tonks shirt, and they left.

And that was the beginning. Tonks never stopped writing to them both during her years on Hogwarts, and always spent a week of her summer on Brazil with them. After she graduated and as they friendship increased and the time passed, Tonks spent more and more time with them whenever she could. Sometimes she was the one who traveled, and other times it was them. She became like an older sister to Cassie, as much as Juliana became an older sister to her. Tonks was the first one to know Severus was Cassandra's real father, and the first one to make the Unbreakable Vow. She considered both of them her best friends, as much as they considered her theirs.

* * *

"Say it." Tonks said as they pulled away from their hug.

"Do I have to?" Cassie asked, pouting.

"Yup." She replied.

Cassandra rolled her eyes and said "I'm sorry I ignored you, you are so awesome, how could I not stop to admire something so amazing" very fast without breathing.

"Oh, stop it. You're making me blush." Tonks said mockingly. Cassie stuck her tongue at her.

Molly appeared on the room. "Will you stay for dinner?" Juliana smiled sadly as Tonks nodded.

"Not me, sorry. I'm leaving shortly, I have to talk to Cass first." Molly understood what the sad smile meant so she didn't question her.

"Okay, let's go to my room." Cassandra said and they both went upstairs.

"I didn't know you were friends." George said to Tonks as they left.

"Friends? We're sisters." Tonks replied.

"So how did you meet?" Fred asked.

"Now that's a story I love to tell." Tonks answered as she sat on the couch and began talking.

* * *

"**Mom, how's dad?**" Juliana asked seriously as her mother closed the door and made the room sound proof. When she turned, her eyes were filled with tears. "**Don't lie, I deserve to know the truth.**"

"**It's getting harder, Juliana. Sometimes he comes home so hurt it takes me hours to heal him.**" Her mother replied as she sat on the bed. Cassandra resisted the urge to cry.

"**I want to see him. I miss him so much.**" She said and her mother smiled a broken smile.

**"I know you do, he misses you too, every day. That's part of what I need to tell you. You'll be staying here for a week, at most. We finally found a house close to Salem, so we're moving there shortly. And your father will be there as much as he can, I promise.**" Juliana sighed, a bit relieved. She almost never saw her father, so spending the rest of the summer on a place where he could actually go was a gift from heaven. "**I will come next monday to pick you up, so have your things ready.**"

"Okay." Was her reply after she leaned down and hugged her mother, who broke down and cried silently on her shoulder.

* * *

**If any of you are wondering, the question of Cassandra's father came up, and Juliana's answer was "He travels a lot." That was the first week after the school's end, so Severus was still at Hogwarts, getting his business sorted. But he did live with them. I couldn't fit it on the story but that's how it happened**.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for the follows, review and favorites! I'm glad people like this story.**

**This is by far the longest chapter, but I wasn't going to split it in two parts because the point is that one chapter has to cover Juliana and Severus and the other Cassandra and Fred. **

**The rating of this story won't go up because I couldn't write sex scenes even if my life depended on it, but things will be obviously implied, for example after the line break. **

**This chapter has lots of fluff.**

**As usual, bolded sentences are meant to be on portuguese.**

**Warning: Sirius is strongly antagonized.**

* * *

"Severus..." Juliana said as she traced random patterns with her finger on his bare chest.

"Yeah?" he asked with his eyes closed, with one arm wrapped around her and the other resting behind his head.

"Would you like to spend Christmas break with me on Brazil?" She asked shyly. He opened his eyes immediately and looked at her, surprise written on his face.

"Are you serious?" he asked, sitting on the enormous bed the Room of Requirement had provided for them. She sat up, too.

"Of course I'm serious. I mean, you will need a signed permission but... I mean..." she didn't know how to say _I don't think your father will care what you do as long as you don't go where he is and if to get that he has a to sign a paper, I don't think he will mind, _but she didn't need to, he understood. "I mean if you want to, too. You don't have to come. I just... my mum says she wants to meet you..." She rambled, scared by his silence. His eyes opened wide and she thought she had said something wrong. "Um..." she said with her voice an octave higher, trying to think of something to say.

"Your mum wants to meet me? You have talked her about me? Us?" he asked with an unreadable expression.

"...yes?" she said quietly and what expected was a lecture about how it was dangerous to write that on a letter but what she got was him on top of her kissing her desperately. She had her eyes opened for a second, surprised, but began kissing him back in no time, wrapping her legs around his waist, bringing him closer. Severus broke the kiss and used his elbows to lift himself a bit from her. _She looks so beautiful, _he tought, with her hair spread out on the pillow, her eyes dark with desire and her ragged breath.

"I love you." It came out from his mouth without warning, and he cursed himself on his head. _How could you blurt out something like that, she's going to run away this time for sure_, he tought. On the contrary, she smiled a surprised smile and pulled him down for another kiss. A few seconds later, she whispered on his ear.

"I love you too."

After another agitated love making session, she spoke again.

"You haven't answered."

"Yes. I'd love to spend Christmas break with you." She squealed with excitement and he smiled lovingly at her.

* * *

"Okay. One more time, this is what we're going to do." Juliana said as she sat on Severus' lap on their secret place on the library.

"We've said it a thousand times already." Severus said poking her side, making her laugh.

"We can't make any mistakes. Just one more time, please. I'll give you a kiss." He raised his eyebrow.

"I don't get a kiss if I say no? Ever again?" He asked bringing his face close to hers. She pulled away and struggled to not smile.

"Never. No more kissing for you."

"Oh no, then I think I must accept." He said playing along.

"That's what I thought. Okay. First thing. We just go into the train when the opportunity presents itself. With a classmate, alone, it doesn't matter. It just has to be natural. You." She said looking at him. Despite his unwillingness to go through everything again, he took it very seriously.

"When we arrive to Kings Cross, I will walk into muggle london and I will take a cab. You will take it on the station. We are going to your uncle's cottage. When I get there, I will go inside." She nodded and continued.

"My mother already sent the portkey, I forgot to tell you. Well, I will be there already waiting for you. If everything goes right, we will have to wait probably an hour until it activates, because my uncle said that we should not take any chances. After that... we should be on the sunny and warm Brazil. " She smiled and he smiled back before giving her a kiss.

"We should probably get going, it's almost time for dinner." Severus said.

"Oh yes, and I haven't packed yet. I'll see you tomorrow then. Love you." she replied standing up and kissing him before leaving.

He waited some time like they always did and left the library.

* * *

So far, so good. They had boarded the train without any problem and were already halfway there. But Severus was still nervous. If this worked, he might spend an actual good time, and that meant that he had a voice inside his head constantly saying _It's too god to be true_.

When they arrived to the station, he catched a glimpse of Juliana getting into a car. Good. That meant she was already on her way. He grabbed a hold of his trunk and started walking, when he suddenly found himself going head first to the ground. He barely had time to turn a little to the side to avoid breaking his head on the floor, which resulted on his shoulder taking all the force of the fall. He gritted his teeth and held it in pain, it was dislocated for sure.

"Will you ever stop making a fool of yourself, Snivellus?" He heard a mocking voice say. Of course._ I should have known, _he tought. _I would never trip like that own my own. _He got up, grabbed his trunk and began walking the other way. _Today I won't give you the satisfaction. _His arm hurt like hell, but he managed to pretend that nothing was wrong. Sirius didn't like that.

"My friend, wait up." He said pressing his hand on his shoulder with so much force that Severus nearly fell on his knees. Sweat was beginning to form on his forehead. He could fix it with a wave of his wand, but right now they were in front of hundreds of muggles, which gave Sirius a perfect opportunity. He couldn't do anything. He wouldn't do anything, not in front of all these people.

"Sirius, what are you doing? Let's go." He heard Lupin say, annoyed.

"I'm just saying goodbye to my friend here Remus." He replied with fake kindness on his voice. "It is not a common day when he leaves the castle for a holiday..." He lowered his voice. "He's probably going to spend Christmas with all his death eater friends, exchanging gifts, killing people for fun..."

"Yes, I am actually." Severus replied in a dangerous tone. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to say hello to your entire family for you." Sirius eyes flashed dangerously and he sneered at him.

"You are hilarious." He said in a normal tone again and punched him on his injured shoulder with great strength. To anyone who was casually walking by, that would have seemed a friendly gesture. But Severus felt like was being burned alive. His face was completely soaked on sweat now, and his hair was sticking on his face.

"Have a good holiday." Sirius said with malice and left.

Severus walked with difficulty a few blocks until he found a dark alley. He made sure no one was watching and put his shoulder back on place. This hurt even more than before and this time he allowed himself to kneel in pain. When he regained his breath, he tried to move his arm to discover that it still hurt. Not as much as before, obviously, but the pain was considerable.

He walked some more until he found a cab and after he told the driver the address, allowed himself to lay back on his seat and relax for a while.

* * *

He paid the driver and got out of the car. The cottage was small and had a wooden fence with a small gate on the front. He looked at it for a few seconds while the cab left. Suddenly, the door opened and a smiling Juliana appeared on the doorstep. She ran outside to meet him, but stopped suddenly and the smile on her face vanished. She looked at him for a second before hurrying and taking his face on her hands. She was worried, and he didn't know why. _Oh, I must look terrible. _He thought.

"What happened, are you okay?" She asked him as she hugged him, touching his shoulder. He flinched and she pulled away. "Are you hurt?" She asked, scared.

"I'll tell you inside." He said and she nodded. She held his hand and carried his trunk for him. He let her, right now he was starting to feel very tired.

* * *

"THAT SON OF A BITCH! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!" Juliana screamed, enraged. She started to look for something on her bag, muttering under her breath. Severus was angry too, but seeing getting worried for him and angry at someone because they hurt him felt... kind of nice. It looked like she found what she was looking for, because she walked to him with a small bottle on her hands. She handed it to him and he took it without asking. If he was in better conditions he would have taken a potion of his own, but he didn't even think about it. She sat beside him on the couch and moved him so his head was resting on her lap. She began running her hands on his hair, calming him down. She was still pissed, though, and was killing Sirius Black over and over again on her mind.

"Do you want to take a shower? We still have to wait 45 minutes." She asked after a while. He opened one eye and smirked.

"Is that an invitation?" He asked.

"Could be." She replied with a smile that mirrored his own.

* * *

"I don't have summer clothes." Severus said to Juliana.

"Oh, no. What are we going to do?" She said sarcastically. "I wish you were a wizard who could transfigure a pencil into a pair of shorts! I guess we should cancel everything."

He laughed at her and she smiled. She helped him with the clothes and they dressed together. In no time they were ready to go.

"Ready?" She asked. The portkey would be working in ten seconds.

"Ready." He said and they both put their fingers on the broken cup on the table. As soon as they did they felt like they were being pulled from their legs and stretched like a rubber band.

"Let go when I tell you!" She screamed to him. He nodded. "Now!" They both let go and in a second felt themselves land in the floor. Severus landed on his back, with Juliana on top of him. He was a bit disoriented at first, but after a few seconds felt her getting off of him and began to open his eyes. What greeted him was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. An enormous beach with crystal blue water and what he tought was the bluest sky in the world. He squinted his eyes a bit because the sun was too bright for him, but other than that everything was perfect. Juliana held his hand and kissed his cheek.

"Welcome to Rio." She said with a smile. "Now let's go before you get sunburnt." They turned and he saw a house a few meters away. He assumed that was where she lived. When they were getting there, a woman who looked to be about forty five years old opened the door and screamed something Severus didn't understand. She was obviously her mother, the resemblance between them could not be missed. Juliana waved excitedly with a smile before she whispered at him.

"They will say is that you are too pale at some point. Don't get offended, you are. It's not a bad thing, they're just not used to see it." He nodded and held her hand tightly. He was absolutely scared. _What if she didn't like him? What if she forbided him to see Juliana again? What if she already had someone in mind for her daughter? Someone from there who was better looking? _

Juliana's mother hugged her daughter and said something he didn't understand again. When she pulled away, she fixed her eyes on him and he swallowed.

"You are Severus!" She said excitedly with a very thick accent. He nodded, nervous. "Don't be shy! Juliana says so much about you I feel I already know you! I'm Isabel, her mother." She came to him and gave him a kiss on each cheek. He was very surprised.

"That's the custom here, love." Juliana whispered to him, trying hard not to smile at his dumbfounded face.

"Come! We need to introduce you to everybody! Juliana never brings a boyfriend to meet the family." She said with a smile and walked ahead of them.

"You never brought anyone before to meet them?" He asked her.

"No one was special enough." She answered and held his hand again. The corners of his mouth lifted up. "I'm sure all my family is inside... which is more than twenty people, and you will be kissed on your cheeks by every woman on the room. I just thought you should know."

"WHAT?" He said and didn't have time to ask anything else because she opened the door and was greeted by an enormous amount of people on the living room.

"**HELLO!**" They all screamed and Severus took a step back. Juliana gave his hand a firm squeeze and brought him to her side.

Everyone started talking at the same time, making it even harder for him to even catch a word of what they were saying. To his surprise, he heard his name being said quite a lot by all these people.

"**Yes, this is my boyfriend Severus. He's overwhelmed because all of this is new for him. People on England act different, so please don't make him uncomfortable. Also, he only speaks English. Please be nice.**" Juliana said. And with that everyone started introducing themselves to him. Quite a few of them spoke English, and they all told him that they were thrilled to finally meet him. It was hard for him to believe anything of what was happening, but tried to handle the situation the best he could.

After a while Severus began to feel more and more comfortable with the people on the room.

Juliana was looking at him, smiling. He was opening up easily, but then, it wasn't to hard to open up with these people. They were nice and loved making feel people at home. Severus hit it off right away with her uncle Henry, who was american. He was actually her aunt's husband, and was a Potions Master. She was expecting it.

They had dinner outside, and by then he was completely comfortable. He laughed, smiled, and joked without thinking it twice. After dinner, Juliana asked him if he wanted to go for a walk on the beach, and he accepted. They both excused themselves and walked to the water. They were barefoot, so they enjoyed the feeling of the water and wet sand. The moon was up in the sky and the sight of the stars reflexion on the sea was breathtaking. They walked on comfortable silence for a while, until Severus spoke.

"Thank you." He said. Juliana looked at him and smiled. They sat on the sand and she rested her head on his shoulder. "I can't remember the last time I felt like this." He whispered and she hugged him, snuggling closer to his body.

"How?" she asked softly.

"Happy." he replied, turning to look at her. She brought her face closer to his and when they were about to kiss they heard a noise on the trees behind them. Juliana sighed with a smile and pressed her forehead on his for second before turning her head.

"**Come out. We can hear you.**" She said and Severus raised an eyebrow at her. Nothing happened. "**I will tell your mother you were following me again.**" Suddenly the sound was heard again, but this time a little girl appeared. She slowly made her way to where they sat, with a piece of folded paper on her hands. "Severus, this is Teresa, my cousin. She is almost four, and loves following me around." Severus waved his hand awkwardly at her and she looked down, blushing. "**Why did you follow us?**"Teresa said something on her ear and she laughed. "**Okay.**" She replied and looked at him. The little girl handed him the folded piece of paper. "Take it." Juliana said. He took it and opened it. It was a drawing of him and Juliana, holding hands. It had weird colored doodles everywhere, but Severus found himself very touched at the gesture.

"**Thank you**." He said to the little girl like Juliana had taught him to. They heard her name being called, probably by her mother, and she hugged him quickly before running away. "Why did she give me this?" He asked after a while.

"She liked you. She said you were pretty." His eyebrows rose up.

"Pretty?" She rolled her eyes.

"I'm just translating. You know... everyone liked you, actually." He sighed and leaned back into the sand. She did the same.

"That never happened before." He said with a trace of sadness on his voice. She put her hand on his face and turned it so he was now looking at her.

"Maybe because you were never given a chance to be liked." He moved a strand of hair from her face and left his hand there.

"I love you so much." He said.

"**I love you more.**" she replied and kissed him.

* * *

After they got back, most of Juliana's relatives were already gone, and those who weren't were about to leave. When they got inside, Severus asked a question that had been on his mind for a while.

"Where am I sleeping?" Juliana looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"With me, of course. Unless you'd rather sleep somew-" she began to say but he interrupted her.

"With you?" He asked, surprised. "Your mother is okay with this?" _So that's where it comes from, _she tought.

"Sex is not a taboo on my family. As long as we keep it down and are careful, she doesn't mind." Severus mouth fell and his eyes opened wide. He didn't know what to say.

"I feel very uncomfortable right now."

"Okay, you don't have to sleep in my room. I'm sure I can-" she began to say and he interrupted her again.

"That's not what I meant!" She smiled.

"I know, I was teasing you. C'mon." She said as her mother entered the house.

"We are going to bed. Goodnight." She said and her mother smiled.

"You better sleep tonight," Isabel said to Severus, "because I know tomorrow a long day awaits you." By now his face was as red as a tomato, so he just nodded, afraid that his voice might be higher than usual. Juliana smiled and they went up the stairs, Severus trunk floating behind them.

"This is it." She said as she opened the doors of her room. It was small but really nice. The walls were white with baby blue flowers on the middle. She had two more doors inside, one to her closet and the other to her bathroom, he assumed. Her bed was big enough for both of them, and she had a big window with a balcony where you could see the sea. He enjoyed the cold night air and closed his eyes. Juliana appeared on his side and he drapped an arm across her shoulders. She hugged him close and he kissed the top of her head.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" He asked pulling her close and kissing her neck.

"Do you get tanned?" She asked suddenly.

"Tanned? I don't think so. I never went to a place where the sun was strong enough to do it." He answered.

"I don't think so either. You will probably end up all red and in pain. It doesn't matter. And tomorrow we are scuba diving."

"Scuba diving? What's that?" He asked.

"Oh, tomorrow you'll know." She replied playfully.

"Okay." He said and began kissing her. She pulled away, suddenly.

"Wait! I want..." she said going inside and appearing with a camera on her hands. "A picture of you and me kissing."

"What?" He asked surprised.

"Please! Pleaseeeeee," she said, pouting.

"Fine!" He said, laughing. She smiled.

She left it floating on the air and went to stand in front of him. She looked up and locked eyes with him.

"What's wrong?" She asked when he didn't come any closer.

"I don't want to ruin it." He said, embarrassed. She smiled sadly and moved her face closer to his. His hands came up to hold her face in place and slowly placed his lips on top of hers. A sudden light made him pull away from her and she smiled. She took the camera and pulled the picture out.

"How bad is it?" Severus asked, only half joking.

"Perfect." She answered. And kissed him again, this time without any interruption.

* * *

"What the hell is this?" Severus asked, appalled by the garment he was holding on his hand.

"That is a wetsuit. You have to put it on, it protects your skin." Juliana replied from the bathroom.

"I'm not wearing this! It's... tight!" Severus said, frantic. Juliana laughed and came out of the bathroom with hers only pulled up to the waist, leaving her torso naked except for her bikini top.

"That looks nice." Severus said, suddenly. She rolled her eyes and finished putting her wetsuit, turning around so he could zip it up.

"If you think someone will say anything you are totally mistaken. Wearing this is normal, especially if you are scuba diving. You have to wear it." He looked at the piece of clothing on his hand and reluctantly started to put it on. When he finished, he was feeling too self conscious.

"Damn." He heard Juliana say and felt his ass being squeezed before she pressed herself close to him from behind. She put her chin on his shoulder and brought her mouth close to his ear.

"You don't know how good your back looks on this." She whispered huskily. "Scuba diving will have to wait." She said before pulling him onto the bed with her.

* * *

On the days before Christmas, Severus had a wonderful time. Juliana's family made him feel like he was one of them, something he'd never felt before. During his time in Rio he let himself be something he'd never been. An open person. He wasn't afraid to show his feelings, he didn't think that if he smiled people would consider him weak, he felt accepted.

On the night of Christmas Eve, Severus was on the living room of the house, looking at the pictures displayed on the wall. Many of them consisted of a younger Juliana with a man he assumed was her father, because they shared many similarities. She looked happy in every single one of them.

"Severus! There you are." She said appearing on the doorway and walked to where he was. She looked at the pictures with a smile.

"Do you miss him?" He asked and she sighed.

"Yeah, mostly on occasions like this." He intertwined his fingers with hers and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "He would've loved you, you know." She said matter of factly.

"If you say so..." He answered, unsure.

"He was fascinated by the Dark Arts too." He looked at her, surprised. "He always said that people were mostly scared of the name. He said that you just needed to understand them to love them. He was specialized on healing severe injuries made by dark magic and was starting to work on how to revert the insanity created by prolonged torture. He didn't get to finish it, as you can imagine."

"Can I ask how he died?" She nodded.

"Car accident." He wasn't going to say it out loud, but he was a bit disappointed. He was expecting something a little more... astonishing and a little less, well, _muggle._

"A little disappointed, I see." She said, not harshly. He blushed and looked tormented. "Don't worry about it. They took him to the hospital but there was nothing to be done. His organs were so compromised that not even magic could save him. It was quite ironic." Severus hugged her and she rested her head on his chest.

"I'm so sorry."

"We got to say goodbye, my mother and I. It was short and painful, but it was better than nothing. I always remember him on his best." He leaned down and softly kissed her.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you too." She hugged him one more time and then brightened again. "We need to prepare the table, c'mon."

The meal was gigantic. All the people that greeted him on his first day were back, and as warm and nice as then. When it was finally Christmas, everyone hugged and kissed each other. Severus had never been part of something like that, and didn't know very well how to react. Thankfully, Juliana was there to save him.

"Let's go outside." She said. He nodded and they walked to the door, when they were stopped by Teresa.

"**Can I come?**" She asked looking up at them. Juliana laughed.

"She wants to come." She said to Severus. He just raised an eyebrow and shrugged his shoulders. Juliana nodded to the girl and held her hand out for Teresa to take. She shook her head and raised her arms.

"**You want me to pick you up? Jesus Christ, you are getting too old for this.**" She said and leaned down, but Teresa shook her head again and moved so her arms were pointing at Severus. Juliana laughed loudly. "Oh my God! She wants you to pick her up." She said to Severus, who opened his eyes wide. "If you don't she'll cry, believe me." He awkwardly picked up the kid, who instantly laid her head on his shoulder and put her arms around his neck. Juliana tried hard to not laugh.

"She's in love with you." Juliana said after a while of walking on the beach. "And she is also asleep." Severus looked down to see that Teresa was indeed sleeping with her head resting on his chest.

"You look so cute. I wish I'd brought my camera." She said and he narrowed his eyes at her. "Oh wait, I did." She said pulling her camera out, taking a picture before he could react. "I love it!" She said when the image appeared. Severus looked at it and concluded that yes,_ it could be categorized as cute_. But he _was not _going to say that out loud.

"Merry Christmas, Severus." She said, leaning to kiss him without waking the girl up.

"Merry Christmas, love."

* * *

New Year was similar to Christmas, except there was an amazing fireworks display, and Juliana kissed him hard on the mouth went the countdown reached zero.

"**HAPPY NEW YEAR!**" Everyone screamed at the same time.

However, later that night, when he and Juliana were already on bed, he couldn't help but feel sad. She noticed instantly.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"It's our last day here. I will miss this." He replied. She frowned sadly and hugged him close. She began to run her fingers through his hair, like she knew he loved.

"We are going to keep doing this, Severus. This was just the beginning." He looked at her with a small smile and kissed her briefly.

"Your hair got really dry." She said after a while. "Must've been the sea water."

"Do you like it better when it's not greasy and gross?" He asked her, playfully. He used to feel insecure about it when he was with her, but he learned that she didn't really care.

"Well, even though I like your hair as it is... this style kind of make you look hotter." He laughed.

"Really?" She nodded and laughed too.

"Super hot." He kissed her one more time and they both fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning Severus was surprised to find himself alone in bed. Normally Juliana woke up after him. He went to check on the bathroom, but it was empty. He got dressed and decided to look for her downstairs.

What he found there was something he could not believe. A loud scream of _Surprise! _was heard and he was greeted by a big poster hanging on the wall that said _"HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY SEVERUS", _and a big cake on the table that said the same. He was actually happy that Juliana's entire family wasn't there to greet him, instead there was only her, her mother, her aunt with her husband Henry, and little Teresa.

He realized he hadn't said anything and tried to speak but no words could come out of his mouth. Juliana noticed and walked to him. She gave him a peck on the lips and held his hand.

"You know we leave tomorrow, so this was our last chance to celebrate your birthday properly. I thought that we should do this and surprise you." She said with a smile, leading him to the table, where the cake was.

"I..." he struggled to speak so she held his hand tighter. "I really don't know what to say. Thank you so much, no one ever did something like this for me." Just as he said this, he felt something poking his leg. When he looked down, he realized that something was actually a _someone, _and that someone was Teresa.

She motioned him to come down and he kneeled. She grabbed his hand and pulled something from her pocket. It was a bracelet, and it looked like she made it herself.

"**Happy birthday.**" She said as put it on his hand before hugging him. At first he didn't know what to do, but after a second he hugged her back. He saw a bright light and when he looked up, Juliana was smiling wide with her camera on her hands.

"Can you tell her I loved it?" She nodded and leaned down to speak to Teresa.

"**Severus says he loves it, and thank you.**" The girl beamed at him and ran away.

"Head over heels in love with you." Juliana said with a smile and he rolled his eyes.

After that, they sang to him rather loudly and out of key, making him feel embarrassed and enjoying every second of it. They ate cake, that was delicious, laughed and talked a lot.

Severus had a great time, and before Juliana fell asleep, he spoke to her.

"Juliana." He whispered. She had her back pressed against his chest, so she turned around to see his face.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"I've been thinking how to say this without sounding stupid so I will just say it all at once." She motioned him to go on. "I wanted to thank you for doing all of this for me. I know I have a hard time showing you how I feel but you need to know that I love you, and that I have _never _the way I feel about you for anyone else." She looked at him surprised. She knew what this meant.

"Are you sure?" She said, her voice creaking. He nodded, serious.

"I love you." He replied. She kissed him deeply and slowly for a long time.

"I love you too."

* * *

The goodbye was a warm one, with Isabel telling him how much she loved to meet him and how much she expected him to come back; with Teresa trying to hide her tears, which earned her a kiss on the cheek by Severus that made her smile, and her parents telling him it had been a pleasure to know him.

Before they realized they were already back on the cottage. It was very cold, and reality hit Severus on the face like a ton of bricks. The past two weeks had been a gift from heaven, but now everything would be the same again. As usual, Juliana noticed the change on his mood. She walked to him and held him close.

"_We will_ be back." She said, reassuringly. He just smiled sadly and kissed her hair. "Now how about a shower? It definitely is an invitation."

* * *

"Okay." Juliana said as she put her coat on. "I will call a two cabs. I will get down on Kings Cross and you where you want, just make sure it's a wizard free place." He nodded and she grabbed the phone.

Twenty minutes later, two cars where waiting for them outside.

"I'll see you soon. I love you." She said kissing him with all she had before opening the door and leaving. He closed it and made his way to the car.

* * *

This time he didn't have the bad luck to see Black, and boarded the train with no problems. He found an empty compartment and sat with a sigh. Hours later, he was joined by someone.

"Avery." He said with a nod.

"Severus." He said suspiciously. "Have you been at the sun? You don't look so pale." Severus inner alarms went off immediately, but his face did not betray him.

"I had work to do this holiday." He said without implying anything, but Avery, being the Dark Lord lover he was, instantly thought he was talking about Voldemort.

"I understand. I had work to do too." He said with an evil smile. He was silent for a while. "You already know what you are doing after school, right Severus? I mean... potions are always needed, and with a skill like yours... Many doors could be opened if you knew the right people to talk to. I, myself, have many connections." Severus narrowed his eyes at him.

"What are you looking for, Avery?" He asked impatient, but careful.

"We both know the answer to that question. I know you are good, I can imagine how pleased _he _would be if I brought to him someone as skilled as you to serve his cause." The hair on Severus' neck stood up. "You do know where your loyalties lay, don't you, Severus? It would be a shame for the Slytherin house if someone betrayed us, and everyone knows you had quite the relationship with that filthy mudblood before. We wouldn't want you to make any mistakes like that again, wouldn't we?" He asked, playing with the wand on his hands. Severus jaw was set, but he knew he couldn't say anything. Evil things were said about Avery and about his father, and all of them were true. And if he decided to murder Severus right there, he was probably going to get away with it. So he just nodded and answered with the truth.

"I always know where my loyalties lay."

* * *

Severus was having a tough week. Exams were coming up and both he and Juliana were studying hard, so they didn't see each other as much as they wanted to.

The night before his birthday he went to bed early. He was moody and didn't want to be disturbed. No one but Juliana (and _her_) knew it was his birthday, and even if they did, they wouldn't even bother to say anything to him.

He fell asleep remembering the surprise party Juliana had given him, wishing she was there to keep him company.

At some point during the night, he turned on his bed only to be awoken by something hard on his back. He rose immediately and lit up the bed with his wand. He didn't care about anyone seeing, his drapes where always closed and had a charm on them.

On his bed was a box with a small envelope on top that read _Severus. _He recognized the handwriting in a second. He opened it to find a little letter inside.

_I hope you like it. Don't worry about anyone seeing it, it's heavily enchanted, like this letter. Don't destroy it. _

_Happy birthday_

_I love you more_

_J._

He opened the box to find a rather fat brown photo album, with an _S_ and a _J_ written on silver letters. He already knew what was inside, but that didn't keep him from being surprised.

There were so many pictures he didn't even know she had taken, and they were all amazing. This was the best gift she could give him. This was a way to make him see that everything that had happened wasn't a dream. The good memories were all real.

_No... I love you more._ He thought.

* * *

**Shit is about to hit the fan.**

**Avery is going to have an important role on that and on the story.**


	11. Chapter 11

"I wish I could have seen that." Juliana and Cassandra heard one of the twins say as they came down the stairs.

"You don't have to. She has pictures. Hundreds of pictures." Tonks said laughing.

"What are you talking about?" Cassandra said as she sat on the couch. Her mother went to the kitchen, where Molly was waiting for her with a cup of tea.

"About your crush on Tonks." George said with a smile on his voice.

"My crush on Tonks?!" Cassandra said, in mock indignation. "I did not have a crush on Tonks!" She paused and lifted her chin, proudly. "It was much more than that. It was a fully developed obsession."

"Do you have the pictures?" Tonks asked, excited.

"I always do." She replied, a box appearing on her hands. "Knock yourselves out." She said as she took the lid off and put it on the table.

In every picture Tonks was, Cassandra appeared too. Even if she was on the background, she was there. On most of them she was looking up at her with a dreamy look on her face.

"I remember wishing my hair could change colors. I used to think that was the coolest thing you could do." She said with a nostalgic smile as she looked at the photographs.

"What is it now?" Tonks asked.

"Right now I think the coolest thing you do is kick asses right and left." She replied with a grin. Tonks smiled smugly.

"Oh my, you were fearless." Ginny said jokingly, holding a picture where Cassandra was holding on her hand an enormous and horrible spider, with a smile that had two teeth missing.

"Oh my God! Carlos!" She said taking the picture from her hand.

"Carlos? Who's Carlos?" Fred asked, looking at her with a frown.

"Carlos was my pet spider. I found him on the jungle and I wanted to keep him so bad that my mother made his venom useless and let me keep him. I put him on a closed box and he was dead the next day. I cried." Fred didn't know what to answer to that so he just remained silent.

"You kept a spider as a pet? Are you mental?" Ron asked, entering the room.

"Not everyone is scared of spiders, Ron." George and Fred said at the same time, rolling their eyes.

"I wouldn't be scared if it wasn't for you!" He retorted, angrily.

"Could you let it go..." Fred began.

"The past is in the past." George finished.

"That's very convenient for you isn't it, If y-" Ginny cut him off.

"No one wants to hear you argue, so if you could shut up it would be very nice." Ron narrowed his eyes but kept quiet. Before the silence got awkward, Juliana appeared on the room.

"I'm leaving," she said to Cassandra. "I'll be back on Monday morning. Make sure you have everything ready." she nodded and her mother kissed her head and hugged her. She said goodbye to everyone else in the room and left.

After she was gone Molly announced that dinner was ready. Tonks put the pictures back on the box and closed it. When everyone was on their seats, she spoke.

"I didn't think you were leaving so soon." She said to Cassandra.

"Leaving? Where are you leaving?" Fred asked, surprised.

"To Salem. My mother found a house and we are moving so we can spend the rest of the summer getting used to the place. That's where I will be living for a year, after all."

"Students don't live on the school?" Ginny asked.

"There are dormitories for those who are not from the city. But if you do live there, at the end of the day you just go home." She explained.

"I thought you were going as an exchange student? Shouldn't you be staying with the family of the girl that's travelling to Brazil?" Molly asked.

"Not really... you can choose the kind of program you are going to take part in. You can go to a school and have them send someone, you can go alone, they can send someone alone, you can let a foreign student live with you, they can live on their own... there are lots of options. When my mother travelled to Hogwarts they sent someone who didn't stay with her family. Also, she traveled to Brazil for the holidays. And it's actually a boy."

"I beg your pardon?" Molly asked, confused.

"It's a boy from Salem, not a girl." She replied.

"But it's a Witches Institute." Ginny said.

"No, the name of the institute is _Salem Witches_. It just gets confused with Salem, _Witches Institute._ It's for both boys and girls." She clarified.

"Oh" Fred said, "are you excited?"

"Yeah, absolutely. It's just that as much as I'm excited I'm worried about the times that are ahead of us. I mean... when I feel happy about something I just can't help to think I shouldn't, because of how messed up everything is now. It's stupid, I know." She finished looking down at her plate, embarrassed.

"It's not stupid." Hermione said, reassuringly.

"No, it's not." Fred agreed. "But you can't live feeling guilty about getting excited about stuff. The times ahead of us should be a reason for you to be as happy as you can."

"Man, that was deep." Said George with a frown.

"Yeah..." He replied.

Everyone was silent for the rest of the meal, Fred's words still echoing on their minds.

* * *

Later that night, when everyone had already went to bed, Fred had a nightmare. He woke up covered in sweat, gasping. He quickly looked at the bed beside his, searching for his brother. George was there, sleeping peacefully. Only then he allowed himself to relax a bit. He rubbed his eyes and sat on his bed, enjoying the cold feeling of the floor on his feet. He got up and quietly left the room.

Normally when he had a nightmare as bad as that one, a cup of tea and some time to think was the only thing that calmed him down completely and allowed him to go back to bed.

So he slowly made his way downstairs and was slightly surprised to find Cassandra sitting at the table. She looked oblivious to the world, with a flame about the size of a fist floating in front of her, providing enough light to see most of the kitchen. In front of her was a glass of untouched water, that apparently was the focus of her attention. Except it wasn't, because it was plain to see that her mind was miles away.

It was a creak on the floor that took her out of her trance. She tensed and looked up immediately, and relaxed just as fast when she saw it was him. She squinted her eyes to get a better look, and realized something was wrong. She didn't say anything, though. She just let him make himself a cup of tea, following his every move with her eyes, until he sat in front of her.

"How bad was it? Judging from how pale you look and the hair sticking to your face because of the sweat, I assume _very bad._" She didn't say the word _nightmare _at any point in her sentence, but it wasn't necessary. It was obvious she was talking about that. For a second, Fred felt the need to lie and joke about it, like he normally did about things. But he was still shaken up, and talking about things usually helped, right?

"Worse." Taking a large gulp of his tea before rubbing his forehead. "They never feel this real. It's like I can't breathe and it feels like it's never going to end." She sighed.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." He looked at her.

"Did you have one too?" He asked.

"No... I mean, I have, just not tonight. I've been thinking about what you said at dinner, actually." she replied.

"About enjoying happiness?"

"Exactly. The thought hasn't left my mind since. You've rooted it on my brain. And since you're here, I'd like to thank you. It has opened my mind." She smiled and he smiled back.

"Yeah, it was nothing." He said shrugging and finishing his tea. _It wasn't, _he tought he heard her say under her breath_. _"So... you're leaving?" He said, feigning disinterest, as if to make casual conversation.

"I am, next Monday." She answered, touching the rim of her glass while looking at it attentively.

"Don't you think it's a bit soon? I mean you only got here a couple days ago." He said, this time his interest showing off clearly on his voice. She looked up at him, noticing this change of tone.

"I never intended to stay here for long. We needed to tell you about my mother and me, and she thought it was a good idea that I stopped being a total stranger. So instead of staying in Brazil while she was in the States looking for a house, she made an arrangement so I could stay here and get to know everyone, even if it was just for a short time." She explained. He nodded once, absent-mindedly. "Did I sound arrogant? Like I didn't want to get to know you? Because that's not the case. I wish I could get to know you better." She rambled. He smiled.

"No, I understood, don't worry." He said. She sighed, relieved. They both stayed silent for a while, and Cassandra finally took a drink from her water. Finally, Fred spoke again. "Can I sent letters to you?" He said, not very clearly.

"Sorry, what?" She asked, frowning in confusion.

"Can we mail each other? I mean... when you're on Salem. You said you'd like to get to know each other better..." this time he rambled, and blushed. She brightened and he smiled.

"I'd love to." She replied but then frowned. "But you use owls to deliver your mail."

"Yeah... so?" He asked, confused.

"I am not letting an owl fly from Scotland to Massachusetts. That's mental." She said, appalled.

"Oh... I hadn't tought about that." He said. "But your mum used to send letters to Tonks from Brazil, didn't she?" He asked.

"No, she gave the letters to my father and he made sure an owl delivered them to Tonks." She clarified. There was silence for a while.

"I would really love to keep on touch with you..." Fred said, thinking about a solution.

"Well we could..." She began to say but then thought better of it. "No, forget about it."

"What?" He asked, interested. "Come on. Say it." He insisted.

"No, forget it, really. You wouldn't even think about it. It's too crazy, even for you, lunatic." She said with a smile, taunting him.

"Ha. Ha. Now you have to tell me." Pause. "Please."

"Well, I will see my father, and you will see my father..." She began. His eyes widened immediately and his mouth opened.

"I don't... I can't... I just... We can't. No. He'd kill me." He said shaking his head with a frown. "You're right, that's too crazy, even for me." She rolled her eyes.

"I thought the famous Weasley Twins were all Gryffindor bravery and that. Apparently not." She said, standing up and starting to walk away, her flame following her. She had to bit her lip to avoid laughing. He stood up, too, and stopped her, grabbing her arm gently.

"We are!" He yelled and shut up quickly, hoping nobody had heard him. "We are!" He said again, this time whispering. "But that's just going way too far. He would kill me, Cassie. I mean it. You don't k-" He started to say but stopped when he realized how stupid saying _You don't know him like I do _would sound to his daughter, who _clearly_ knew him better than he did.

"Can you please trust me? He would do this for us." She said, exasperated. "_He is good_. And he loves me. And he never said anything about any of my friends. No matter how crazy they were. I am up for being your friend, are you up for being mine?" She asked, hopefully. He sighed.

"Even if I have to live the most awkward moments of my life, yes. I am up for it."

* * *

**Ohhh... the beginning. I just love them.**


	12. Chapter 12

**So I just wanted to say that I've made some small changes to most of the previous chapters, if you want to check it out. Nothing too big. Also I wanted to finally thank all the people that followed this story, put it on their favorites, and reviewed. Specially **_Edwina B. Karch_**, who left such a nice review.**

**So thank you to **_DarkLight2589, DefyGravityByLettingItGo, Edwina B. Karch, Extop13, FonzFan, HetalianLover365, Satine Gold, .Uchiha, TabbyLynne, YourNotGonnaChangeMe, ZiggaZigAhh, blueeyedgirl6449, .kawaii, dragoon109, fisherlinda53, kaykay25, korppi76, lalasagwania, readingaddict24, romana45, EmiSemi, Jovie Black _**and**_ witch71. _

**If you want to review your thoughts on this story, you are more than welcome to do it.**

* * *

January was gone way too fast, and before they knew, the year was halfway through March and N.E.W.T.S. were just around the corner. Juliana did not have as many subjects as Severus did, but even without having her O.W.L.S she was allowed to take the tests. They studied together four times a week, and Juliana was having a hard time. The school had provided her with a wand, because she needed one for Charms and Transfiguration, mostly. She was told she could use it for D.A.D.A., but she was also allowed to use her own methods for that, because nonverbal and wandless magic were considered a high and relevant level of ability to use in defense.

With Herbology and Potions she didn't have any problems. History of Magic was a subject that she really liked, even if the professor was boring and it had more theory than any other subject. But it wasn't more than that, she just had to sit with the book in front of her and read a lot.

But when she had to use a wand she just couldn't do it. Either she ended up blowing everything up or it didn't work. She was studying extra hard for those two subjects, and _slowly_ was becoming better, but she had a lot to practice still. In Brazil she didn't have anything like Charms or Transfiguration, so she was going to have an exam with expert students in two subjects she had just learned. She was going to aim for an _Acceptable_ on both, but her gut told her she was going to get either a _Poor_ or a _Dreadful_. She hoped the latter wasn't a real option, but she really was expecting the worst.

"Are you leaving for Easter?" Severus asked one day while she was trying to turn vinegar into wine, which wasn't working and was getting her very irritated.

"Not likely. I still have too much to learn." She replied, frowning at the cup in front of her. He nodded and looked at her.

"You can't hold your wand so tightly, and your posture is too stiff. As your frustration increases, the chances of getting it right decrease. Here." He said and got up from his chair, walking to place himself behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Relax." He whispered on her ear and she felt herself calm down immediately, leaning back into him. He grabbed her forearm and guided her hand so it was pointing at the cup. "Loosen your hold on the wand." She did. "Okay, now concentrate. What you want has to be clear on your mind. Breathe. Now, try." She said the spell and was surprised to see the color of the liquid turn red.

"Oh my God." She said, amazed. "I did it!" She turned her face and kissed him briefly on the lips. She walked to the table and picked the cup, smelling it. She made a face. "Well, I successfully made wine vinegar... but I guess that's good enough for today." She said with a smile.

He kissed her one more time and they both started to put their things away.

"Well, tomorrow I'm going to Hogsmeade, so I will see you after dinner." He nodded and they kissed again, for a longer time. Severus was the first one to leave this time, and she waited a few minutes before leaving too.

* * *

Juliana spent a nice day with Amanda on Hogsmeade. The weather was getting warmer, and the snow was almost completely gone. After buying tons of candy and some books, they settled for a butterbeer on the Three Broomsticks, before going back to the school.

"You really are a lone wolf." Amanda said after taking a sip of her drink. Juliana raised her eyebrows.

"Uh?" She asked, confused.

"You love to be alone. You spend so much time on the library than anyone else, I think. I don't even know how you can take being on that place for so long." She said, frowning. _Well, I'm not alone, that's how I can take it. _She wanted to say.

"Oh, I just love to learn about this place." She half-lied. She did love learning about the way they used magic and Hogwarts history, but that wasn't the reason she spent so much time on the library. "Everything is so different here, I want to get to know all I can before I leave." Amanda nodded in understanding.

"We should get going, I'm supposed to meet Peter on the Great Hall at five." Juliana looked at her watch and frowned. She was already ten minutes late.

"Um... Amanda... it's already ten past five." She said carefully. Amanda's eyes widened instantly.

"WHAT? OH NO! We really need to leave." She said grabbing her things at record speed.

"I... really need to pee." Juliana said apologetically. "You can go, I'll catch up."

"No... no. I'll wait. Hurry." Amanda replied, getting nervous. She had been dating Peter for about two weeks, and being late was something she absolutely hated. She didn't want to give him a wrong impression.

"Really, go. It's not like I can get lost, I'll walk to the castle on my own." She said, insisting. She hated doing things in a hurry. Amanda hesitated for a second but quickly thanked her and left almost running from the place.

Juliana calmly picked her bags and made her way to the bathroom. She washed her hands afterwards, looked at herself in the mirror, and exited the pub.

She was alone walking on the path that led to Hogwarts when she heard her name being called. When she turned around she couldn't help but roll her eyes and keep walking.

About twenty feet behind her, walking unsteadily was Sirius Black. When he saw her walking faster, he hurried his steps.

"Julianaaaaaa..." she heard again, this time much more closer. She turned, already angry.

"What the hell do you want?" She asked, and took a step back when she smelled the stench of alcohol on him.

"Oh, don't get so worked up." He said drunkenly, popping the _p _at the end of his sentence.

"Go away Sirius, you reek of firewhiskey." She said, disgusted, and turned to leave when his hand on her arm stopped her. She pulled away immediately. "Don't touch me." She told him, anger clear on her voice.

"Oh, come on Juli... you know you want this." He said with a smile, pointing at himself. He tried to grab her shoulders and come closer to kiss her, but what he got was a strong fist connecting to his nose. His eyes watered and he felt warm liquid coming out, before feeling the taste of blood on his mouth. The blow was so hard that he nearly fell back, and it served to sober him a bit.

"Why the hell did you do that for?" He asked, his hand on his face, looking down at the blood that was starting to drip to the floor. When he looked up, he actually took a step back. The look on her face was one of _pure hatred. _He had only seen another person look at him that way on his life, and she was dating him.

"I'm sorry." She said lowly, her words filled with sarcasm, and he wished she was screaming at him, because he knew that tone was _much more dangerous_. "Was I supposed to punch you after you raped me and finally realized that **I. Did Not. Want it**?" He took another step back. _I wasn't going to rape her, what does she think I am?_ "I want you away from me. I can't stand being more than five minutes in the same room as you. I don't know what you think of the girls that surround you, but believe me, not all women are willing to take off their panties whenever you ask. If I say no, it doesn't mean I'm playing hard to get. It means that **I DON'T WANT TO. **But what can you know, you could try to kill someone and get away with it. Wait... _you already did_." She finished, her eyes narrowed and her teeth clenched in anger. She turned and started to walk away, but he spoke again.

"Why him? What could possibly make you want to be with Severus Snape of all people?" He asked with no emotion on his voice. Before he could prevent it, another fist made contact with his face, this time on his right eye.

"We told you to shut up." She said, looking around to see if someone was around. She didn't _see_ anyone.

"Why? The world should know that you are Hogwarts happiest couple." He said, his voice filled with malice and resentment.

She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him up. Their faces where inches apart.

"Listen to me, idiot, and listen carefully. Do not try me. Or I swear on my life that I will not only destroy you, I will also destroy everyone you love." She moved her face so her mouth was on his ear. "How would Remus feel if everyone knew he is a werewolf?" He pushed her back and looked at her with scared wide eyes. "That's what I thought." She said before turning for the last time and finally walking to the school without being stopped.

Not even in her wildest dreams Juliana would consider to tell anyone about Remus or destroying Sirius life along with the lives of everyone he loved. But she needed him to remain silent, and with someone so unpredictable, threats were the only thing she could think of that actually worked. She wished she didn't have to do it, but she was sure that if she didn't he was going to talk. And talking meant someone was going to die.

When she was finally out of sight, Sirius made his own way to the castle, completely sober by now.

* * *

What he didn't know, and what Juliana hadn't noticed either, was that there was someone standing not too far away that listened attentively to their whole conversation.

"This is just great." Avery said to himself, an evil smile starting to form on his mouth.


	13. Chapter 13

The days passed and suddenly it was Monday morning, and Cassandra was already waiting for her mother. It was early, but everyone was awake to say goodbye.

"Before I go, there is something important I need to tell you." Cassandra began. All the people in the room went silent and waited for her to speak. "I think you've noticed that Harry is not aware of this situation. That's how it has to remain. He can't know about me or my mother by any chance."

"It's not like we can tell him, anyway." Said Ron, frowning.

"I know you can't tell him, that's not why I'm saying this. I want you to understand why. You are probably aware that Harry has a connection with Lord Voldemort. I don't know what are the limits of this connection, but there is a chance that it can allow him to access Harry's mind. If this happens and Harry knew about us, it would mean that Voldemort would know too. And if he knows, we're dead. That is the only reason, I know you are not going to like keeping a secret like this from him, but it's necessary." She finished, her face serious.

"You're right. It's for the greater good." Said Hermione nodding, as if she was trying to convince herself too. The other's nodded too, but Sirius didn't look too pleased at this request. Cassandra noticed but kept quiet, she didn't want to cause unnecessary tension.

Just a few seconds later they heard footsteps and Juliana appeared in the room. She had noticeable bags under her eyes, and even if she was trying to hide it behind a bright smile, it was clear that something was very wrong.

"Shit." Cassandra said very lowly closing her eyes and looking down. She knew what that appearance meant.

"Hey!" She said walking to her daughter. "Everything ready?" Cassandra nodded and forced a smile. "Well, we better get going. The portkey will activate in about fifteen minutes." She said and walked to the adults while Cassie said goodbye to the others.

"How bad?" Molly said, serious. Arthur and Sirius looked at Juliana, awaiting an answer.

"Do you really need to ask?" She replied, in a monotonous voice. That meant _worse than you think_.

"Wasn't he his favourite?" Sirius said, a slight hint of sarcasm on his tone. And by the look on his face after he said it, it wasn't supposed to be said out loud. Molly and Arthur opened their eyes wide and looked at him.

"I'm sorry?" Juliana asked, anger raging inside her. He muttered a low _fuck _and closed his eyes. "Sirius, a word, please." She said, her words laced with venom, leading him to the kitchen. The kids were still oblivious to what was happening.

He followed her and she closed the door, making the room sound proof.

"Why do you always have to do something like this!" She asked, exasperated.

"Sorry for saying what's on my mind when I am IN MY HOUSE." He replied, stubbornly.

"I am not going to bother to elaborate an argument just to tell you how wrong you are because every time I talk about Severus what I say goes in one ear and out the other" He rolled his eyes. "But I will ask you nicely to stop making those kind of comments when you know what's on stake for him every day. You are an adult now, Sirius. Act like one for once in your life."

"Act like an adult? You are telling **me **to act like an adult? Why don't you tell your husband that!? He's the one who terrorizes Harry every day just because he exists. And don't tell me about all this cover crap because he does not have to treat him like he's the most worthless piece of garbage." He retorted, angrily.

"You know why he does the things he does and what is going on inside him. You just choose not to see it. I know what he is doing is wrong, and I am trying to help him change it. But it takes time." She sighed. "Sirius, tell me what do you see when you look at Harry." He looked away, refusing to answer. "What. Do. You. See?" She asked again.

"James." He replied.

"And?"

"Lily." He said, running a hand through his hair. "He has Lily's eyes." He finished.

"And you see the great times you had together. But you can't help to see, every time you look into his face or his glasses, or that hair, that James is dead. And when you look into his eyes, that Lily is dead too. But that gets lost on the overflow of good memories. Severus doesn't have good memories. Now you guess what he sees when he looks at Harry's eyes." He wasn't looking at her. She rubbed her eyes. "Show him some respect. You owe him at least that." She finished before getting up and going to the door. Sirius voice stopped her when she was about to open it.

"Juliana, he hates Harry. And he's just an innocent kid. That's the kind of man you married." She let out a dry laugh. Of course he was going to ignore everything she had said, she was expecting that.

"Here we go again..." She said, rubbing her eyes.

"Why can't you see it, Juliana!? He's not good for you!" He screamed.

"Oh, and you are?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. He stayed silent before sitting on a chair and resting his elbows on the table.

"You know I was in love with you." She made a disgusted face and looked at him.

"You were not in love with me, Sirius. I don't think you are capable of being in love with someone who's not yourself. You wanted me because I was that one person you couldn't have. You wanted me because I was in love with Severus, and taking me away from him would have been the ultimate irony. It was me, but it could've been anyone else." She sighed, her lack of sleep hitting her full force now. She opened the door and exited the room, leaving him behind.

* * *

Cassandra saw Sirius and her mother exit the room and knew things were not gonna be good, but she didn't have time to worry.

"It was a pleasure to meet you." Hermione said with a smile. "I hope we meet again in better circumstances." Cassie nodded.

"It was nice having another girl here for a while... I wish you could have stayed longer." Ginny said and hugged her briefly.

"You're nothing like your father so... cool." Ron said, awkwardly. She just looked at him and mouthed _okay..., _before Fred and George came on either sides of her and hugged her so tightly she stopped breathing.

"We'll miss you!" They said, fake crying.

"All those good times we had together!" George said, dramatically.

"We will never forget them!" Fred screamed directly on her ear.

"I... can't... breathe..." she said, trying to get out of the embrace.

"What? That you'll miss us so much you wish this hug was eternal?" George said, smiling.

She coughed and they both released her, but not before planting two loud and extremely wet kisses on her cheeks. She took a large gulp of air before making a grossed face.

"DISGUSTING." She said, cleaning her cheeks with the ends of her hoodie. "Pigs." They both bowed and she rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile. In that moment they heard the door of the kitchen being opened, and they all looked to see Juliana coming out with a frown and her jaw clenched. It only lasted a second, but everyone saw it. She smiled and her frown disappeared, but there was something about her that said that she was still angry.

"Are you ready?" She asked her daughter while looking at her watch. "The portkey will be ready in five minutes." She nodded and Fred used the seconds he had while everyone was paying attention to Juliana to whisper on Cassandra's ear.

"Write first." She looked at him with a smile on her lips and nodded briefly.

They left the house and walked to an alley. They touched the portkey and were gone in a second.


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks to **_readingaddict24 _**for the review and thanks to **_ChelseaLouisePowell_** for the follow and favorite.**

* * *

Juliana was playing absentmindedly with the arm Severus had draped across her middle, while he was kissing her neck softly.

They were on the Room of Requirement again, this time only a big bed and a few candles adorning the room.

"I've made some progress with my Patronus." She said after a while. He just hummed in response, signaling her to go on. "Now there is this kind of white mist coming out of my wand._ Progress._" She said and he laughed quietly. "I think there's something wrong with my wand." She said after a while.

"Why?" Severus asked.

"Because it just feels like a wooden stick." She said, turning to face him. "That's not how it's supposed to feel, right?"

"No, but your wand was provided by the school out of an existent stock. They skip all that _the wand chooses the wizard _thing. They just give you what they have." She scrunched up her face, unsatisfied with his answer. After a few seconds her expression changed and she sat up on the bed.

"Lend me yours." She said, with a mischievous smile.

"What?" He asked. "Do you think that would work?" She nodded excitedly, and he reached for his pants, that were currently on the floor. He took his wand out of his pocket and handed it to her gently. She took it carefully and tested how it felt on her hand.

"Try a basic spell first." She nodded and pointed it at the pillow.

"Wingardium Leviosa." She said and the pillow floated to the ceiling of the room. "It works." She said. She put on a shirt and walked to the middle of the room.

"Focus." He said and she took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and pointed the wand at the space in front of her.

"Expecto Patronum." She said, and out of the wand came a lot of white shiny mist. She slumped her shoulders and lowered it. "Forget it." She said and turned to give it back to him, but he stopped her.

"No, no. Wait." He said, putting his boxers on and walking to where she was. "You are definitely not going to get it you try it like that. Are you really thinking of your happiest memory?" He asked.

"Yes!" She said, frustrated. "I assure you it is. But judging by the cute _mist _that comes out of the wand, that's not the problem." He nodded.

"Do you think you can do this?" He asked, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Of course." She said and he looked at her. "Sure..." He raised his eyebrows. "Yes?" She said, unsure. "No. I don't."

"There you have it. If you don't think you can do it, you won't be able to. I think you're wrong. You can do this, I believe in you." He said and hugged her from behind, kissing her cheek. She smiled. "Try again." He said and walked back a few steps.

She took another deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling of Severus' wand on her hand, something so important to him that he gave to her without a second thought, and on her happiest memory.

_"I love you." Severus said, and his eyes widened like he knew he had said the wrong thing, and she couldn't help to think that he looked **so cute** and it was also the first time he said it and there were so many butterflies doing a mad dance on her stomach and she couldn't believe this was happening to her. _

_"I love you too." She replied, and they were kissing madly and they made love again and again and it felt so perfect and so wonderful and **so right**._

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" She yelled after opening her eyes, and she had to took a few steps back because of the force of the bright light that was coming out of the wand. In a second the light turned into a gigantic grizzly bear, and she opened her eyes so wide she thought they were going to pop out of her skull.

"Fuck." She whispered at the same time Severus said _bloody hell, _behind her. The bear roared silently, while they just looked at it, dumbfounded.

"Makes sense." Severus said and she turned to look at him, getting distracted and breaking the spell.

"Whaa?" She asked dumbly, her attention still on the Patronus that had just disappeared.

"In the end, one's Patronus is a reflection of your personality, state of mind and... soul. It makes sense a grizzly bear is yours." He was deep in thought for a second. "But it was so big... and powerful. What memory gave you that level of power?" He asked, curious. She was zoning out, looking at the wand on her hand, but she still answered. Probably without even realizing what she was saying.

"The first time you said you loved me." She said, and he looked at her, in silence. After a few seconds she came back to her senses and looked up to find him staring at her attentively.

"What's wrong?" She asked, frowning.

"Your happiest memory... the memory that made you conjure such an imposing Patronus... is of me saying that I loved you?" He asked, no emotion on his voice. Her frown deepened, if that was possible.

"I honestly don't care if you think it's stupid." She said and handed him his wand. He didn't take it, he just kept looking at her, his face emotionless.

"I'm starting to get scared here, Severus. What's wrong?" She said quietly and moved close to him, putting her hand on his cheek. His eyes watered the moment her skin made contact with his and he shut his eyes tightly. "Oh god." She said and threw his wand to the bed, so both of her hands were free. "Severus, love. What happened?" She asked, holding him tightly as he broke down, falling on his knees to the floor, and started to cry with his face buried on her shoulder. She whispered sweet nothings on his ear while she waited to for him to calm down, and after a while he finally did.

"I'm sorry." He whispered without looking up.

"What for?" She asked, stroking his hair.

"Being weak." He answered, his voice hoarse.

"Crying doesn't make a person weak. Especially when it's you. But what made you so sad?" She asked and he finally looked up.

"It wasn't sadness." He said looking into her eyes, communicating without words. And she knew that even if she had showed him a thousand ways that she loved him, he still didn't believe it completely. Until now. "I love you so much." He said and she smiled and her eyes filled with tears too, and in a second she was crying and the next they were kissing. It was messy and wet, and they both had trouble breathing because of Juliana's sobs, but it was the one that sealed their bond and brought them closer than ever before.

* * *

"It's so late." Juliana said, getting dressed quickly, Severus looking at her. "I go first today. Wait at least half an hour before going yourself." She said and walked to him as he nodded, kissing him hard. "I'll see you tomorrow. I love you." She said and pulled him closer.

"I love you too." He said and they kissed one more time, for at least ten minutes before the door appeared on the wall and she exited the room.

Severus took his time to get dressed, the memories of the last hours still fresh on his mind, making him have a smile on his face he couldn't suppress.

When he was about to put his shoes on, he saw a shiny object on the floor close to him. When he walked to pick it up he discovered it was Juliana's necklace, that was actually a locket, with the inscription _Only love will set you free_ carved on it on portuguese. As far as he was concerned she was the only one who could open it, and he confirmed that fact after trying for five minutes to open it without succeeding. He finally put his shoes on, and put her necklace on his pocket to return it later.

When the time was up he left the room and made his way to the Slytherin dormitories. He didn't see anything out of place on his way there.

* * *

Juliana walked at least five minutes before noticing she was being followed. She began to turn around every twenty seconds, and to get too aware of her surroundings. She finally heard a loud noise behind her that made her stop and turn her whole body, only to find nothing. When she turned again, she collided to a hard chest, seeing a flash of green fabric in front of her.

"You shouldn't be here. What are you doing out of bed?" She sighed. _It's just a prefect, _she thought and looked up. He wasn't. _Mulciber. Run. _Her mind shouted.

"Yeah... what are you doing out of bed?" She heard a voice say behind her and she felt a chill run down her spine. She knew that voice, and she knew she should be scared. She couldn't make a run for it, Mulciber could stop her in an instant. So she just turned around to face Avery's cold and evil look.

"Call the others." He said to Mulciber, who nodded and left. Juliana's mind was running wild, thinking of ways to get out of that place or make Avery harmless so she could scape. Apparently, his mind was faster than hers, and with a simple move of his wand her body went limp and she could only stay there standing without moving.

"Don't worry, I won't do too much damage until the others are here." He said in a fake reassuring tone. "You know... I really don't know how could you think someone like you could try to be with someone like us and get away with it." Her eyes, the only thing she had control of, widened and he laughed. "Oh, yes. I know. I know all about your escapades, and how in love you both are. Don't worry, though. The other's don't know you're dating. Only I know." He said and walked to her, touching her face with his free hand. "I won't tell them... because everyone would consider him a blood traitor and he would be no use to me. I can't let that happen, can I?" He asked, his voice soft. She wanted to scream, but settled for burning the hand he had on her face. He removed it quickly and looked at her with pure hatred and disgust. "How dare you, you disgusting bitch!" He said holding his burned hand into his chest. "CRUCIO!" He screamed at her as he pointed his wand to her face, and she felt like her insides were being torn apart and acid was flowing through her veins. She couldn't do anything, and she felt the tears on her cheeks and the sweat forming in her entire body.

But he wasn't satisfied.

He lifted the spell that didn't let her move and she instantly fell to the floor, but when she tried to scream she discovered that she still couldn't. She heard footsteps getting closer and let herself be hopeful for a second, before hearing the laughter of the others.

"That's a good start. Allow me." She heard an unknown male voice say before feeling like her back was being burned. She writhed in pain and they laughed.

"I'm not done yet." She thought she heard Avery say, because at this point her mind was getting fuzzy and she definitely could not control her magic enough to fight back. "Crucio."

And the initial pain was there again, only this time it was stronger and she knew she was about to faint. There was a big gash on her back and it was bleeding a lot. If she didn't get help soon she was surely going to die of blood loss. She tried to concentrate enough to break the spell that keeping her from screaming but it was too hard and she was feeling more and more tired by the second.

"I didn't bring you here to enjoy the view." Avery said and she opened her eyes just enough to see about six blurry figures looking down with their wands pointing at her. And she knew that if she wanted to live the moment to act was now. So the second before Avery said _now _and six people used the Cruciatus Curse on her, she was able to broke the silencing spell, and when the curses hit her, she let out an ear shattering scream that made all of them stop and run away, except for Avery, who crouched and brought his face close to hers.

She was shaking hard, her skin was grey and pale, there was a puddle of blood surrounding her and her eyes were completely bloodshot.

"If you say anything about who attacked you or I found out that you are asking anyone for help, prepare yourself to see him die before your eyes." He threatened and stood up to kick her hard on the stomach before leaving.

He didn't need to say who he was talking about. She knew. Like she knew he wasn't lying, and that their had tried to kill her. She was was making a big effort to stay awake, but every second it was getting harder. She couldn't see anything but blurred shapes, and finally went unconscious with the sound of hurried steps and the feeling of being lifted up from the floor.

* * *

**So... it happened. If you'd like to review what you think of the last scene... you are totally welcome.**

**Yeah... ok bye.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Once again, thanks to **_readingaddict24_ **for the review!**

**This is the first chapter where Fred and Cassandra get explored in more depth, yay. This is also the longest one so far, taking the title from the good old Chapter 10.**

* * *

"Oh my God." said Cassandra as she saw the house in front of her. It wasn't big but it looked very cozy, and had a big backyard and a beautiful garden at the front. "I love it!" She said looking at her mother, who smiled.

However, her smile was gone when she saw her daughter hesitation to go inside.

"He's inside." She said. "He should be fine by now, go greet him. He missed you." Cassandra's face lit up and she ran to the door, opening it carefully. She looked inside and didn't see anyone, but she heard the noise of a mug on a table coming from her right. She quickly made her way inside and followed the sound.

"Dad!" She said excitedly as soon as she saw him and ran like a little child into his arms. He greeted her with a smile and hugged her tightly. "How are you feeling?" She asked, her voice muffled by his chest.

"I've been better." He answered, rubbing her back. He tried to pull away but she didn't let him, and he kissed her head softly. He felt her tremble and looked down to discover that she was crying.

"I'm sorry." She said between sobs.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." He replied, stroking her hair. In that moment Juliana entered the room, a long sigh coming out of her mouth when she saw the state her daughter was in.

Cassandra finally pulled away, drying her tears with her sleeves and went to sit down on a chair.

"Here." Severus said handing her the mug that was on the table, sitting on the chair opposite to her. "I made it for you."

Cassandra grabbed the mug and took a sip as her mother bent to kiss her father briefly on the lips. Juliana sat down on the chair next to Severus, holding his hand tightly under the table.

"Did you have fun?" Severus asked Cassandra as she finished her cup of tea.

"Yeah..." She answered, absentmindedly. She realized her father was probably feeling guilty already for being the reason she was crying, so she tried to humor him. "Fred and George are a laugh." Her father rolled his eyes, but didn't look mad. "What?" She asked, a smile on the corner of her lips. She knew the Weasley twins were a pain in the ass for most professors, her father being one of them.

"I didn't say anything." He answered and she smiled. She loved the way he was when he was alone with her and her mother. He looked happy.

"You did. With your eyes." She said, playing along.

"You can read my eyes?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Of course." She replied, lifting her chin. "Mom can, and so do I."

"That's true." Juliana said, joining the conversation with a playful smile.

"Two against one is a bit unfair, I must say." He said and for a while they enjoyed the feeling that everything was fine.

* * *

"So, dad." Cassandra said after a long while of silence when they were together on the living room. It was dark outside and they had already eaten dinner. She was sprawled on the floor, reading a book, while her father was sitting _oh-so-properly _on the couch, also reading. That position was heavily contrasted by her mother's, who had fallen asleep with her head on his lap, her feet with no shoes on crossed on the armrest of the couch.

He lifted his eyes to look at her, suspicion written on his face.

"Yes?" He asked, his eyes falling back to the book on his hands.

"You know I meant when I said I really liked Fred and George."

"Yes, I am aware. What about it?" He asked, now closing his book and taking his reading glasses off, placing both on the table beside him. She also closed her book and rolled to her side.

"I need to ask you a huge favour."

"I can only imagine. Please go on."

"Well, I know that sending mail overseas is a huge thing." He rested his chin on his hand, already knowing where this was going. "And also, you can't make owls fly that kind of distances, it's barbaric!" He nodded. "So, if I wanted to communicate with someone who's on another continent, I could only do it by delivering the mail myself. And I can't do that. But if I had someone who could see this person I want to write to kinda often..." she trailed off, looking at him.

"You want me to deliver your letters to the Weasley twins?" He asked, his voice emotionless.

"I only talked with Fred about it, actually, but that would be it basically, yes. And also bring their responses to me." She said, carefully.

"You understand this can be dangerous." He asked, in the monotonous tone still on his voice.

"Yeah... but dad, look. This is like the only way to keep in touch with him. I really liked him and George, and if we don't do it the next time we see each other it's going to be awkward. We might see each other again in a year. And I would really like to be friends with them. I can ask Tonks to do it for the rest of the summer, but on the school year I really need you to help us. Please?" She asked, softly. He was silent for a few seconds.

"Okay." He answered and she beamed at him.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you." She said and went to hug him, a difficult task because her mother was still asleep and she didn't want to wake her up. "I love you." She said, kissing his cheek.

"I love you too."

* * *

_Fred,_

_You might be surprised that this letter was not delivered by my father himself, but by Tonks. There is an easy explanation for that. He accepted to do it on the school year, because he really is our only option, but during the summer we will rely on our dearest Nymphadora (please don't let her know I said that) to act as our post woman._

_How are things there? How is everyone? I hope your products are going well. If you're interested to know, here is beautiful. I went to visit the school yesterday, and it blew my mind. It's super modern and really looks like a regular American High School. There is no uniform either, how cool is that?_

_I would like to write more, but Tonks is about to leave and I need to give her this letter in five minutes._

_I'll wait for your reply._

_Cassie_

* * *

_Cassie_

_George is actually reading over my shoulder right now, making sure I'm writing this. He wanted to ask you why you didn't write a letter to him, and he wants you to know that's he's very upset. Okay, he's already gone._

_Everything here is rather normal. Mum is making us clean every day, and it seems like we will never be able to finish._

_Did you know that there is a painting of Sirius mother that starts screaming if you make loud noises? I didn't. I found out yesterday, when I accidentally made something explode in front of it. It started screaming that we were all blood traitors and filth or something like that. It wasn't pretty, and her voice sounded like a parrot with a sore throat._

_As for our products, we came up with something really cool. We call them Extendable Ears, and they make you able to listen what is happening somewhere far away from you, as if it was really close. We are very proud of this one, it can prove itself very useful while Order meetings occur. They are not telling us anything, but that's not new._

_Hey, do you know anything about what they say on the meetings? If you do, telling me would be a very nice thing to do._

_On another note: no uniforms? That surely sounds cool. I'll be waiting for pictures of your adventures on Salem Witches Institute. Something tells me you're going to have fun. And you know I'm a fun lover._

_Merlin knows when you'll receive this letter. Tonks said she has a lot of work. That sucks. Apart from creating new products, your letters are the only thing that's not boring on this house._

_Hope you get this soon._

_Fred_

* * *

_Fred,_

_I did not get your reply too soon, after all. It's been two weeks since you give it to Tonks, or so she says._

_Anyway, I hope you are not dying of boredom over there, you know, without my amazing writing to keep you entertained. _

_The town is so pretty! And the people here is amazing. Where I'm living is a muggle-wizard village, that is very close to the school. All the muggles here know about the wizards, and they help keeping it a secret. It's so lovely, it reminds me of Brazil, in a way._

_Oh my God, I almost forgot! Guess what! My mom got me a dog! There is a picture inside the envelope if you still haven't seen it. His name is Rocko and he's a purebred Pug. Isn't he lovely? It looks like his eyes are going to pop out any minute. _

_Oh, Tonks has to go again. Nothing much happened besides that, so I guess I'm not letting anything out. Also, I barely know anything about what goes on the Order meetings, and now that my father knows I'm writing to you, I'm pretty sure I'll know less than that._

_Hope everything is fine over there, say hello to everyone for me._

_Cassie_

_P.S. The folded paper with the name George in it is obviously for George, so please be a gentleman and give it to him without opening it._

* * *

_Cassie_

_Everything is not fine over here. I'm not sure if your father already told you, but Harry and his muggle cousin were attacked by dementors. He was able to use his Patronus, but now they want to expel him from Hogwarts because of being underage and using magic in front of him. That is so stupid, and everyone is pissed. Dumbledore managed to get him a hearing on August, and we believe he will be able to avoid expulsion. Well, we hope. The Ministry and the Prophet are against them both, and they are trying to make them look like liars._

_Oh, I almost forgot. George said he forgives you for not writing him his own letter, and that he loves the drawing of you two you sent him. He thinks that with a little more practice you will be able to draw almost as good as a five year old._

_Everyone here says hello, and hope things are better for you there._

_I do too._

_Fred_

* * *

_Fred_

_I am so sorry to hear about Harry, and so mad. They definitely want to take Harry out of the picture because he's giving the Ministry bad press. The news of Voldemort's return are known everywhere. People here talk about it, and most of them believe Harry. Don't tell him that, though. He will ask you how do you know._

_We are about to get my school supplies and Tonks is coming with us, so I can't make this letter too long. I can't make any letter too long, it seems. She will be returning as soon as we come back, so I need to give it to her now._

_Tell me how the hearing went as soon as you know. I believe they won't be able to do anything to him._

_I hope you can write soon._

_Cassie_

* * *

_Cassie_

_Everything went fine. Harry was cleared of all charges, but now they hate him more than ever._

_I'm happy to hear that he has supporters on the rest of the world. I really wish I could tell him, he hasn't been having the best time here. But at least he's with Sirius and his friends, he missed them._

_I never asked when your birthday was. When is it? You know what, nevermind. I'll ask Tonks._

_Mine and George's is on April 1st, if you want to know. Presents are allowed._

_I think this will be one of the last letters before the start of the school year. I don't know how I feel about it yet. Please write me first._

_I have to go, a meeting is happening right now and we'll try to see if we can listen._

_Take care_

_Fred_

* * *

_Fred_

_I'm really glad everything worked out for Harry. _

_Don't worry about the letters, my dad even said that he has no problem with giving you extra detentions just so you can give him the letters without being suspicious. We do have to be extra careful, you know._

_That was a joke. I just feel the need to point that out._

_By now you probably know my birthday is on October 31st. I can't believe your birthday is on April 1st. Honestly. It's the biggest irony in the world._

_Okay, I just realized that you probably don't know what I'm talking about._

_On April 1st there is a famous muggle holiday called April Fools, which consists on playing pranks to people all day long. So, it makes sense your birthday falls on that day. Like it's fate, or destiny, or something like that._

_I believe you can send one more letter before the school year starts. My dad said he will make sure you receive my letters by owl, but he can't do anything about yours, so you will have to give them to him personally. That's a little less pressure for you, I think._

_I will be updating you on my school year, even if you don't want me to. Also, please keep me updated too on how are things on Hogwarts. I am sure it's going to be a tough year for everyone._

_Good luck._

_Cassie_

* * *

_Cassie_

_Ha ha. What a comedic genius you are. Anyway, yes, it's way better if I receive your letters by owl. I'm also thinking that you should put a spell on them to avoid anyone else (except maybe George) to read them. _

_April Fools? I never heard of it. Frankly George and I quite excited. It seems like a cool holiday to share our birthday with._

_This is the last letter before the school year starts, that's true. We'll be taking the Hogwarts Express in two days. I'm guessing you'll be receiving this letter in about a week._

_Please, keep me updated on your school year. I really want to know how things work on your new school. I remember I saw a few girls from there on the Quidditch World Cup but that's all I knew about it. I'm interested._

_I will tell you how things are here, I also think it's going to be a hard year, especially for Harry. But that's nothing new._

_George sends his regards and asks that you stop forgetting about him._

___Good luck to you, _

_Fred._

* * *

A few days after the start of term, an owl flew over Fred's head and dropped an envelope in front of him, just as he was finishing his breakfast. He knew it was from Cassandra because she wrote him with a pen on regular white paper, and always put her letters on a white envelope with _Fred_ written on the front. His face brightened in an instant and George stifled a laugh. He opened the letter at record speed and saw that inside were several pictures. He left them there and took the letter out.

_Fred_

_Jesus Christ, Mary and Joseph. You don't know how amazing this school is. __As you probably noticed already, I sent you a lot of pictures. There is two of Rocko, I caught him chasing butterflies yesterday. Isn't he the cutest little thing? Yes he is._

_Back to the school, it's great. I don't mean to discredit Hogwarts and their ways, but everyone here is so cool! It's modern! We have Potions, but it goes more to the side of Chemistry, so we have this amazing classroom that really looks like a regular High School classroom, but has this sort of cauldrons that don't look at all like cauldrons. Actually they are silver and made of metal (I assume?)._

_We also have this GREAT History class where we study the influence of wizard society on the muggle world, focusing on the most relevant historical events._

_We share with you Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration, and I have a Biology class that seems very similar to Herbology._

_They have a Quidditch team, but I don't think they're very good. It doesn't seem to be a highly relevant sport over here. We have P.E. once a week, and I already hate it._

_We can take an elective, and they have a Drama Club that seemed interesting, so that's what I chose._

_Tell George I haven't forget him. One of the pictures is just for him, you'll know which one it is._

_I gotta go, my dad is about to leave._

_Write soon_

_Cassie_

_P.S. He told me about Umbridge, I'm sorry for you. Please elaborate on that subject._

"That must be interesting, judging by your face." Angelina said as he finished reading the letter. He looked up and his smile disappeared.

"What? No. It's just my mom." He said, folding the paper and saving it on his pocket. She looked at him suspiciously. He grabbed the envelope and stood from his seat.

"George?" He said to his twin who looked up at him. "We better get going, we are gonna be late for class." He said and George nodded, understanding what he meant and stood up too, grabbing a toast from a plate in front of him.

"Yeah, we don't." He said and they both left before anyone could say anything.

"Since when do they care about being late?" Angelina asked to anyone in particular. Lee looked at her and shrugged his shoulders.

They walked a few minutes in silence until they far enough. Fred opened the envelope and took the pictures out after handing the letter to George so he could read it.

"Hey, what's the picture for me?" George asked when he finished reading, leaning over Fred's shoulder too see better.

"I haven't foun-" he started to say but stopped when he saw the picture that appeared when he put the one on the top at the bottom.

"So this was the other picture she took of Rocko." George said, serious for a second before they both started laughing. "Give it, it's mine." He said and took it from his brother's hand before he could say a thing.

On the small photograph, Cassandra's dog was sitting on the floor, his mouth open with his tongue on the side, a sign hanging on his neck that read "GEORGE WEASLEY IS THE BEST GOOD ENOUGH", with the words _the best _crossed out. He put it on his pocket and tried to take the other pictures from Fred's hand, but he didn't let him.

"Hey! I want to see them too." He said.

"Yeah, wait til I finish. She took a lot." George rolled his eyes and kept walking.

"So... have you figured how you are going to deliver her reply?" He asked a few seconds later, clearly making fun of him. Fred gave him a hard look.

"If you must know, I have, yes. It was actually Cassie who gave me the idea." He said as he finished looking at the pictures and handed them to his twin.

"How?" George asked.

"Detention."

* * *

_Cassie_

_I wonder if your father told you how I managed to give him this letter. I'm sure he did so I won't talk about it. It wasn't nice so if you have any ideas for future letter sending I'll be glad to hear them. Read them. Whatever._

_You really made a man happy when you sent that picture to George. He wants to meet Rocko now, and if I recall correctly, he said about him that "he was the cutest little thing indeed". So, there's that._

_Your pictures are really cool to look at, but I really can't get used to them not moving. Salem Witches definitely sounds nice, but I'd choose Hogwarts every time. Not trying to make a "Which school is the best" argument here at all._

_Because Hogwarts would win every time._

_About Umbridge... I'm not sure you really want to hear about her. She's annoying and evil, and only wears pink. She was sent by the Ministry, so you figure how she teaches. She doesn't think practice is necessary when you're learning Defense, so she has this big, heavy and boring books that she expects the students to learn from. Absolute rubbish._

_She is too conservative, and she is an extreme blood purist. You should see the way she looks at some of the students and teachers. She is sure she is above everyone in the school, a__nd she also was responsible for the anti-werewolf legislation. I'm sure you know what that means._

_And what's even worse, she was named Hogwarts High Inquisitor by the Ministry, which basically means that the disgusting toad is able to fire any teacher she founds "unsuited" for the job, and basically do whatever the hell she wants._

_Anyway, George and I are not too worried about this year. We mostly just want to finish school once and for all, so we can open the shop. Academic developement is not a priority for what we want to do._

_Don't worry too much about this, enjoy your year, I'm sure it will be amazing._

_Take care_

_Fred_

* * *

_Fred_

_Yes, my father told me how you gave him the letter, and I honestly don't have any ideas. You'll have to work on something on your own. Sorry._

_I am aware of Umbridge's reign of terror on the school, my father told us quite a bit about it and her, especially. I really think you need to be careful. From what he told me, Umbridge's motto is "The end justifies the means", and her ends tend to be something that has to do with repression and her means are nothing short of physical and psychological abuse. Warn your brothers and their friends about this, things are probably worse than they thought._

_I hope they get better. _

_Cassie_

* * *

_Cassie_

_I thought you were exaggerating about her. I'm sorry I doubted you, even if you didn't even know. She has a hell of a way to punish students._

_She has a quill. It doesn't need ink and she said it was because it was "very special". At first I didn't know what she wanted me to do. She then told me and George that we had to write "I must not disrupt the order" as many times as we needed until it was finally clear. _

_The quill didn't need ink because it writes with your own blood, extracting it from the back of your hand where it carves what you're writing. _

_She did it to Harry too, and he didn't let us to talk with Dumbledore. I will try to speak with your father when I give him this letter. Ask him how the conversation went._

_I'm sad to say that things are not getting better, they are getting way worse._

_Fred_

* * *

_Fred_

_Well, my father told me you were really angry when you left his classroom. I think that by now you've had a chance to cool off and really think of what he said._

_Do not underestimate Umbridge, Fred. She has the power to fire every teacher who tries to step on her way and to expel every student who annoys her too much. Of course that she needs to be stopped, but at what cost? Someone who's ready to do that has to be prepared to be sacked or face expulsion. That's how it is._

_Inside the box that comes with the letter you will find a cream that will immediately ease the pain on your hand and will prevent any scarring. I have also added the recipe and a supply of the ingredients you'll need to make more, because I don't think you'll be able to get them being there. It's easy and very helpful._

_Things in the school are fine. _

_I have to go now, take care._

_Cassie._

* * *

_Cassie_

_Happy Birthday! I hope your dad gives you this letter on your actual birthday, he said he would. I never thought that I'd say this, but he might not be as bad as I thought._

_George is reading over my shoulder to make sure I say that your present is from both of us, and that the idea was actually his._

_Now that he's gone I can say that it really wasn't. It was mine._

_I hope you like it. I remembered you said that you joined a Drama Club on your school, and I didn't know what it was at first, but Hermione explained that it was an acting class. The lady that sold it to us in Hogsmeade said that they are only made and sold on Great Britain, so hopefully no one there will have one and you will get to be the super cool kid for once._

_Just kidding, you are super cool already. Tell me how it worked on your letter._

_I hope you have a great day_

_Fred_

_P.S. The cream was amazing, we can't thank you enough._

* * *

_Fred_

_OH MY GOD THAT WAS ONE OF THE BEST GIFTS I GOT! I really didn't believe a NECKLACE could do too much for my acting, but it's amazing! See, you put in on, and when get into character IT ACTUALLY CHANGES YOUR APPEARANCE TOO LOOK LIKE THE CHARACTER YOU'RE PLAYING. How crazy is that? It only lasts for about an hour before you have to take it off for a while, but that doesn't even matter. It's not a metamorphmagus-like change of appearance but it certainly does the job. Now everyone wants one._

_I'm sure it was super expensive. And I feel bad. But then I remember how cool it is and I feel good again._

_Seriously, thank you. It was an a amazing birthday gift. I will outdo you on yours, though. You just wait._

_Did you see the picture already? If you didn't, look at it. Isn't he beautiful? He had the hat on for five seconds before he ate it. It was enough time to take the picture, though. George can keep it if he wants it. Give it to him. Do it._

_I wish you would've been here. I've made some friends I'd like you to meet. I really hit it off with a boy on my Biology class named Steve, he's really funny and nice, you'd probably like him too._

_Okay, gotta go. I hope your next letter brings better news._

_Cassie_

* * *

_Cassie_

_I really didn't want to say this on my previous letter because I wanted to make it all about your birthday and whatnot, but things have gotten a little better, only because they've gotten worse. I hope that makes sense._

_I need to ask you something that I know will make you uncomfortable, but I need to trust you. You can't tell your father about what I'm going to say next, because I know he'd try to stop us because he'll say it's too dangerous. But we need this._

_With Harry on the lead, my brothers and I, with several other people, are part of a secret organization that we called Dumbledore's Army. The point is to learn actual Defense Against the Dark Arts, with Harry as our teacher. We are making a lot of progress, and he is great at teaching. Who would have thought._

_That Steve guy really sounds like a good catch. Funny and nice, isn't that what all women want?_

_I'd love to keep writing, but I'm about to go to Hogsmeade with Angelina, one of my closest friends. We went to the Yule Ball together last year. I attached a picture of her there if you want to see her._

_Take care_

_Fred_

* * *

_Fred_

_Holy mother! That girl is absolutely gorgeous! Was it a date? What am I asking, of course it was. Tell me how it went, and please don't make it awkward by spilling dirty details. Ew._

_And Steve is definitely a good catch! Kinda makes me wish he wasn't gay so I'd have zero chances to be with him instead of less than that, like I have now._

_Okay, moving on to the serious stuff._

_I promise I won't say anything about it. I'm actually happy that you found a way to learn how to protect yourselves. I'm sure you are being as careful as a human being can possibly be but that's not enough. I mean it, please don't let her find you, you can imagine how bad things will get if she does. I can't help but worry, she's a fucking tyrant._

_I hope everything goes well with Dumbledore's Army. I wish you all the best of luck._

_Also, my father will be coming home only one more time after you get this letter. He won't be back for at least two weeks, so if you want to answer and get a reply, do it in the day. Don't ask why. If you imagine the worst, it will be better than what's going on right now. Things are going downhill very fast._

_Be careful_

_Cassie_

* * *

_Cassie_

_IT WAS NOT A DATE. I told you, she's one of my closest friends. There is nothing going on between us, we just went together to the Yule Ball and things ended that night. Nothing._

_I'm sorry to hear that. But don't worry, this is why we do what we do. We are going to fight and we are going to win. That's a promise._

_George and I were able to finally cast a full Patronus. Mine is a fox, and you won't believe what George's is._

_If you guessed a dog identical to Rocko, you are right. I think he's in love. _

_I'm actually with your father right now, and he's looking at me. He said I coud write you a letter now but I have to be brief. I still have a detention to fulfill._

_No letters from you for two weeks sounds really boring, but I'll manage. _

_I have to go, your dad's stare is really powerful._

_I'll wait for your last letter_

_Fred_

* * *

_Fred_

_I hope I get to send you something on Christmas, but If I don't... well, Merry Christmas?_

_Jesus, when you say last letter it sounds like we're never going to write to each other again. This is the last letter for TWO WEEKS. Don't be so dramatic._

_Tell George I found amazing that his Patronus is a pug. To congratulate him, I sent him the beautiful pictures inside the envelope. I'm sure that if Rocko could talk he would be feeling very flattered, and he would want to meet him as soon as possible._

_My dad is leaving in five, I have to go._

_Say hello to everyone, I hope they're alright._

_Have a good holiday_

_Cassie_

* * *

"Cass, Cassie... wake up." Juliana said, shaking her daughter's shoulders.

"Hah?" Cassandra asked, trying to open her eyes. When she realized her mother was fully clothed, she went on alert mode immediately. "What happened?" She asked, fully awake.

"Nothing to your father. Dress up and pack something light, we're going to Grimmauld place. I'll explain in the kitchen." She said and left the room.

Cassandra put some clothes on really fast, and threw some more on one of her enchanted backpacks, with some other things. She went to the bathroom to wash her face and teeth, and walked quickly to the kitchen.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked, seeing her mother taking several bottles from her potions cabinet and handing them to Tonks, who was putting them inside a bag.

"Arthur Weasley was attacked. He survived thanks to Harry, who had a dream that he was a**_ big snake_** and tried to kill him." Tonks said.

"Oh no. Does this mean...?" she asked and both her mother and Tonks nodded. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." She said, rubbing her eyes. "How's Arthur?"

"Bad. The venom is not letting his wounds heal. However, your grandfather encountered this problem many years ago on one of his trips, and developed a cure. It takes 36 hours to brew and you can't leave it a second unattended. We are going there so I can help him." Her mother explained.

"Mom, Harry's gonna be there." Cassandra said, an implicit concern etched on her words.

"Yes, so is Fred." Juliana answered and she rose her eyebrows, but didn't reply. "Granted, you probably will have to be mostly locked up on a room, but it's two days. And I'm not letting my 17 year old daughter alone on this house without anyone too look after her. I may be overreacting, but honestly I don't give a shit right now." She finished, hotly.

Cassandra was feeling very worried. She was sure her mother was going to be of great help and Arthur was going to make it. But what was making her feel uneasy was the fact that she knew what Harry was experiencing wasn't a dream. It was his connection with Voldemort. Just one more thing to add to the pile of _everything is terrible._

"I need to take Rocko. There's no one here to take care of him." Cassandra said to her mother, who simply nodded. She went upstairs to get him, and put him inside a big bag. She also took all the Christmas gifts she had bought and put them inside her backpack.

"You're ready?" Juliana asked and Cassie nodded. "Close the zip of the bag and hold on to it tightly, you don't want Rocko trying to jump out. Open it again when we get there." They went to the backyard and Tonks closed all the doors and windows with a flick of her wand. "Okay. Let's go." She said and they all touched a broken doll that was laying on the grass.

* * *

As soon as they appeared on the dark alley two blocks away from Grimmauld Place, the three noticed that Rocko was barking madly, and when Cassandra opened the bag,she discovered that he wasn't scared, he was actually excited.

"Well, there is at least one living thing who likes travelling by portkey." Tonks said as the door appeared in front of them. They heard voices talking as soon as they got inside. It wasn't hard to tell, judging by their tones, that everyone was scared and worried.

Tonks went to the kitchen in a second, while Juliana took of her coat off and Cassandra let Rocko out of the bag.

* * *

Fred saw Tonks enter the kitchen and immediately perked up. They were feeling very hopeful now that she had told them about Juliana's father. She was supposed to bring her there, so she could start brewing the potion that was going to cure his father.

"Tonks!" He said, standing up. "Is she coming? Did you see Cassie? How is she?" He asked, very fast.

"Easy, boy." Tonks said, smiling. "Ask her yourself."

He was going to ask what did she mean by that because his brain wasn't working to well and he wasn't understanding what people said as fast as he usually did. But then he saw her. She walked trough the door and he felt the air being pulled out of his lungs. Her hair was now short, pixie cut short, and it looked even better than before.

She looked at him with worried eyes and walked forward and hugged him before he even knew what was going on. He didn't hug back for a second, but then she whispered _I'm so sorry _and his arms were around her waist holding onto her for dear life. And his mind was running wild and he was thinking _Her hair smells so good, has it always been like that? It smells like winter. How does anyone get the smell of winter on their hair? How is that even possible? I like it. My dad is dying. Why am I thinking about this? I have always been a horrible person, why can't I take things seriously? No wonder my mother thinks I'm a disappointment, I really am. _

"Fred, it's going to be okay. My mother knows how to do this, she has done it before." And that helped to calm him down, but he didn't want to let her go. A loud bark was the only thing that brought him back to reality.

"Is that..." George said, trying to look to the floor from his place on the table. He found what he was looking for very fast. "ROCKO?" He asked, something that made the dog look around him, trying to find who called his name. "Rocko, Rocko, come here boy, come here." George said and Rocko immediately started to wag his tail and ran to where he was. He stood up, resting two paws on his knee, and George picked him up.

That exchange was useful to lighten up the kids mood a bit.

"Sirius." Juliana said, entering the kitchen. "I need a warm room to work in. Naturally warm. Do you have one?" He nodded. "Okay, show me." She said and they were about to go when she turned and looked at Tonks.

"Tonks, I need you to go to St Mungo's and tell them that in 36 hours you will be delivering a potion to help him. They will be reluctant to that, so tell them this exact words: _I have someone who knows how to brew Carlos Souza's cure_. Every person who works on there will know what you're talking about." Tonks nodded and left as she and Sirius went up the stairs.

"I guess your grandfather is the real deal." Ginny said to Cassandra, who took her backpack off and walked to sit on the table with the others.

"He used to be, he died before I was born. Anyway, that's not why they'll back off. It because when he discovered this cure he wanted to make a deal with them, because they were the most reliable option for worldwide distribution. But he was young and they called him an 'obnoxious and deluded ignorant', mostly because he didn't speak english too well. Five months later, the news of his discovery where spread all around the world, but they didn't want to apologize and so they never heard of him again, and now they can't work with that cure." Cassandra said, shrugging her shoulders. Ginny just nodded.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Harry is here, it's best if he doesn't see you." She nodded. " Right now he's asleep, but he knows that a woman from Brazil was coming to brew a potion. You should try to avoid seeing him, he doesn't know the woman was bringing her daughter." Ginny said.

"But he can think that she brought her dog, right?" George asked, holding Rocko tightly on his arms.

* * *

Juliana had been brewing for fifteen hours now, and had asked to not be disturbed by anyone. She was still awake thanks to the potions she had been drinking. She knew it wasn't good for her, but she was going to recover when she finished. So far, so good. Everything was going according to plan.

On her room, Cassandra couldn't sleep. She wanted desperately to help her mother, but she knew that potion was way beyond her area of skill. So she was just laying on the bed, looking at the darkness, feeling useless and wishing she knew more. After about ten minutes of being with her eyes wide open staring at nothing, she decided that maybe a cup of tea would help. As far as she was concerned, Harry had been given a potion that made him fall sleep, so he was not going to be awake. She tried to not wake Rocko up when she got out of bed, but it was futile, and he was ready to follow her.

"Shh." She said and picked him up, taking him downstairs with her. "Why are you such a light sleeper?" She asked, and he just wagged his tail, which made her smile.

There was a light coming from the kitchen, but she was expecting that. Probably everyone was awake, so at least one person was going to be up. There was no one on the kitchen when she walked in, so she looked on the living room. She felt a lump form on her throat when she saw the scene in front of her eyes. Fred -because it was definitely him- was sitting on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees, head on his hands, and _definitely crying_.

At first she didn't know what to do. If he was alone in the dark when everyone else was asleep and was crying in silence, he probably wanted to be left alone. However, her heart was screaming that she needed to ask him if he wanted to talk, and basically just _be there for him. _

So she decided that he only needed to say once that he wanted to be alone, and she would leave. But not without talking to him first.

He still hadn't noticed that she was standing there, so she left Rocko on the floor and walked to him.

"Fred?" She asked, softly. He looked up fast, but seemed to relax when he saw it was her. She felt her own eyes fill with tears at the image of his wet cheeks and puffy eyes. She didn't know what to say, but he scooted over on the couch, signaling that he wanted her to stay. She sat very close to him, and they didn't speak for a while. She didn't speak because asking _are you okay? _or _how are you? _when she knew the answer to both questions didn't seem like a very nice thing to do. He didn't speak because he knew his voice was going to betray him.

She liked people to hold her hand when she was sad, and she hoped Fred did too, because she took one of his on hers and intertwined their fingers together. He looked at them for a while before squeezing her hand hard, and finally starting to speak.

"What if Harry didn't have that dream? What if there was no one there to help him? He would have died._ Alone._" He said, his voice breaking at the end of the sentence. She leaned to rest her head on his shoulder, and held his hand tighter.

"Don't think about the _what ifs _of life, Fred. You will be very unhappy if you do. You father is alive and recovering, and he will be cured in no time. Try to think about that, not what could have happened." She said softly and he nodded.

"I'm glad you're here, even if you can't come out of your room." He said after a while, his voice hoarse, trying to joke. She smiled.

"Me too."

* * *

Fred spent most of his time with Cassandra on her room, while George spent most of his with Rocko. Juliana finished the potion successfully, and prepared it to be taken to St Mungo's at one a.m. By then, Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione were asleep, and they could leave without Harry noticing.

The potion was going to be delivered by Tonks, and needed to be applied using a syringe, something that apparently was going to please Arthur a lot.

"Cass, do you have everything ready? We are about to go." Her mother asked, opening the door of her room. She nodded.

"I need to talk to Fred and George first." They both looked at her with identical eyebrows raised, and her mother closed the door again.

"Okay, God knows when will I see you again, so I wanted to give you your Christmas presents in person. Well, it's actually more like a big individual present for both of you." She reached for her backpack and pulled out a a box -that was clearly bigger- from the inside.

"How the hell..." George said and she looked at him. "Yeah, magic. Nevermind."

"Okay. Don't get mad but you won't be able to open it until Christmas. I put a spell on it." She said.

"What?" They asked at the same time.

"That's what they teach you at that school of yours? They're evil." George said, trying to open the present anyway. He couldn't.

"Well, using a wand does have its perks. Okay, I have to go now." She said and slung her backpack on her shoulder.

"Wait! We'll give you yours too." Fred said and they both disapparated from the room with a loud pop, making her jump.

"God, I hate that." She said to no one and crossed her arms. They were back before a minute passed, carrying one small box each.

"You won't be able to open them until Christmas, either." George said as they both handed the presents to her.

"Fair enough." She said, putting them on her backpack. "Now I really have to get going." They both nodded and walked down the stairs with her, Rocko on George's arms.

"Ready now?" Her mother asked.

"Yeah, let's go." She said before turning to face the twins. "George, give me my dog." George seemed very unwilling to do this but finally placed him on Cassandra's open arms. She put him on her bag and handed it to her mother. "Goodbye. Say hello to Arthur for me, and tell him that I wish he gets well soon." She said and hugged them both.

"Will do." They both said with a sigh and a small smile.

And with that she left, leaving a longing feeling on their chests, especially Fred's.

* * *

**Wow. 8k words. That sure is a lot, right? Yeah. Okay, if you want to review, please do.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Happy Valentine's Day to everyone who likes to celebrate it and stuff! **_readingaddict24_**, your reviews have a special place on my heart.**

* * *

_"So sorry... my fault... love you so much..."_ were a few of the things Juliana was hearing while unconscious. She could barely make the words, but she knew whose voice was that. She wasn't able to wake up, but she was able to think. And think she did. Right now, her mind was going crazy.

To put it simply, everything had went to shit. Avery knew about her and Severus, and by know she had deducted that probably the whole school knew she had feelings for him. She hoped he had kept his word and nobody else knew those feelings were mutual, but she was expecting the worst.

_I won't tell them... because everyone would consider him a blood traitor and he would be no use to me. I can't let that happen, can I?_

**___He would be no use to me._**

She had reviewed those words over and over and over again, only to arrive to one conclusion: he was going to take advantage of this newfound knowledge to make Severus join Voldemort's side. Sadly, there was nothing she could possibly do to make him decline his offer. If he did, Avery was going to kill her, him, and her family if it was necessary.

But Severus was there with her, she could _hear him. _So, what was he going to do? What was going to happen? What was happening right now, while she was unconscious?

What was she going to say once she woke up and Dumbledore asked her who attacked her?

**Nothing.** That's what.

She knew Dumbledore could offer them any kind of protection. His good intentions were not going to be enough. Avery just needed a second to kill someone, and Dumbledore was not going to be able to do anything to him, even if he caught him in the act.

That's how screwed up everything was.

So, when she woke up, if she ever did, she was going to say that she didn't see who attacked her. Yes, that was the best thing to do.

* * *

Severus was making his way downstairs to the Slytherin Common Room, his hand on his pocket, playing with Juliana's necklace, when he was stopped by one of his housemates. He had seen him around before, but he didn't know his name.

"Snape," he said, looking him up and down. "I still don't know what made her like you, but I guess one person in the world had to to find your sourness endearing. Don't worry about it, though. She's already been taken care of." He said with a wink. Severus face, as usual, was a mask of indifference. But if you looked into his eyes very closely, you'd probably see that he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The boy was about to leave, but he grabbed him from his shirt, roughly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked, dangerously.

"Don't need to get so violent." He said, taking his arm off his hand, his playful attitude still on. "Well, you just woke up so you may not know but..." He said, a vicious smile forming on his lips. "You know that girl, the brazilian monkey?" He asked and Severus nodded, resisting the urge to stab him in the eye with his wand. "Well, apparently the idiot is **in love with you**." He said, now laughing. "Don't ask me how I know, but the source is reliable. And last night she got a visit from the good old lady Justice, who showed her how things are meant to be on this school, if you know what I mean." He finished, winking again.

By now, Severus clenched his teeth, using all the self control he had to not kill him right there.

"No, I don't know what you mean." He said, and the boy rolled his eyes.

"She's on the infirmary now. Unconscious, barely dead. Wish I didn't have to say _barely_." Severus swallowed hard and felt an enormous need to throw up. Apparently the disgust was showing on his face, and the boy misinterpreted it for disgust towards her. "Yeah, I know. Fuck, I'm already late." He said fast and disappeared.

Severus didn't go to class that day.

* * *

By dinnertime, he was looking way too pale for his own good. He had spent the entire day throwing up and trying to not faint. He had also cried, and cried, and cried again, all while his self hatred grew bigger than ever before.

How had this happened? They were so careful, no one could have known what was going on between them. He was trying to avoid everyone, but when everyone was coming back from the Great Hall, he finally got his answers.

"Severus, my friend. Are you okay? You don't look too well." He heard a distant voice say from his spot on the couch next to the fire. When he looked to see who it was, he found a pair of cold eyes he was never happy to see.

Avery sat down next to him, and whispered on his ear.

"Are you sad that you won't be seeing your dear girlfriend tonight, like you usually do?" He said with a smirk and Severus went from pale to completely white in a second. His eyes widened and he looked at him. Avery laughed maliciously. "Oh yes, I know. I had so much fun with her last night." He said and Severus wanted to lunge at him, but the room was too crowded and his common sense wasn't totally gone. So he just narrowed his eyes at him, his jaw clenched. "Oh no, don't be getting all upset now. Unfortunately, she's going to live." He said, faking sadness. Severus was breathing heavily, and his head was starting to spin. "However, neither her or you are going to in the close future if you don't do what I tell you. Because I promise you, Severus, that if you don't do as I say, I will deliver her to the Dark Lord myself. And that's not going to be pretty. Well, for her, at least. And you know I always keep my word." By now, Severus could barely hear him, and before being able to even think about answering, he fell to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

He woke up in the dark, gasping for air. He quickly surveyed his surroundings, only to discover he was now laying on a bed in the infirmary.

The infirmary.

_Juliana_.

He sat on the bed at record speed, but the sudden movement made him dizzy and he fell to the floor.

"Mister Snape, what are you doing out of bed!" He heard Madam Pomfrey's voice screaming.

He tried to get up but he could not stay still, it felt like everything was spinning. His head hurt like hell, probably because of the force of the fall to the floor when he fainted, and he accepted that he wasn't able to stand up without any help. So he took her arm and let her lay him on the bed again.

"Here, drink this." She said and handed him a goblet of something that tasted horrid, but he drank without complaining. In a few seconds, he felt the dizziness and headache go away, and was finally able to fully take in the scene in front of him.

Apparently, he had woken Madam Pomfrey up, because she was wearing a nightgown.

"What time is it?" He asked, fully awake now.

"3 a.m. Now, I suggest you try to get some sleep, because you won't be able to leave until tomorrow noon, at least."

Severus was about to nod when his eye catched something on the far corner of the wing. There was a bed with closed curtains. Seeing as he was the only other person here, _she_ had to be there.

"Who's there?" He asked, trying to sound calm. Madam Pomfrey looked behind her and sighed, sadly.

"Juliana Souza, the exchange student. She was brutally attacked last night. But don't worry about her, try to get some sleep." She said and was about to leave when his voice stopped her.

"What happened?"

"Well, she received a powerful slicing curse that hit her on the back, leaving a big gash that led her to almost bleed to death. Luckily, Professor Dumbledore found her before that happened."

"Do you know who did it?" He asked, his voice hoarse. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"No, we don't. Why?"

"Just asking." He answered, trying to not sound too desperate. "Did they do anything else to her?"

"Well... as far as physical harm, no. Psychological... we're not so sure." She said, implying something he understood immediately. "But I shouldn't be talking about this with you. Now, sleep. Professor Slughorn brought you looking very sick, you need it." She said and left the room quickly.

Severus, obviously, was not able to fall asleep. He waited at least half an hour to make sure that she was not coming back, and quietly made his way to the end of the room.

He spent several minutes standing in front of the closed curtains, trying to gather enough courage to finally open them.

When he did, he felt his world falling apart inside him.

If it wasn't for the light movement of her chest, he would swear she was dead. Her normally olive skin was looking abnormally pale, something that made everything seem more real.

Her torso was wrapped in gauze, this being the only thing covering it. He took a few hesitant steps at first, as if walking to close meant that he was going to harm her further, and slowly made his way to the side of her bed.

He stood next to her for some time, just looking at her face, taking her appearance in.

_When did this happen?_

He decided, after a while, that it surely had been between the time she left the Room of Requirement and the time he did.

It was half an hour.

_How long did they torture her?_

Not much, probably. But they clearly didn't waste their time. He wondered how Dumbledore found her.

_Did she scream?_

Maybe, but Avery surely had put a silencing spell on her.

_Then how? Did she break__ the spell?_

Well, a wand is not a necessity for her.

_It's all my fault._

Severus kneeled on the floor so he could be face to face with her.

"I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have let this happen. Please wake up. Please forgive me. I love you so much." He said and felt the tears beginning to fall.

He took her hand -her cold, limp hand- on his and kissed it.

"I'm so sorry." He said over and over again.

He just stayed by her side, caressing her hair, until he saw the first morning light coming through the window.

"Love, I have to go. I will be back tonight. I promise. I love you." He said and bent down to kiss her forehead sweetly, before closing the curtains and returning to his own bed.

What he didn't hear, of course, was a soft sound coming from her mouth that sounded _too much_ like his own name.

* * *

Juliana was aware that she was still unconscious, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't wake up.

She tried to hear something, but that proved to be a very difficult and tiring task. What wasn't tiring, however, was feeling.

She felt.

She felt the gash on her back giving her terrible pangs of pain that came without warning and didn't stop for a long time.

She felt the soft gauze wrapped on her body.

She felt the material of the sheet covering her, making her body feel warm.

But what she felt more than anything else was the beautiful feeling of a pain of familiar lips on her forehead.

_He's here. __He's here. __He's here. __He's here. __He's here. __He's here. __He's here. _

_He's here. With me.__  
_

_Severus. __Severus. __Severus. __Severus, can you hear me? Severus. Please. Don't go. Severus._

She tried to say something with all the strength she had, but she knew it wasn't working.

_God, no. Please. Please. C'mon._

_"Severus."_

But he didn't come back.

* * *

Severus was released at noon, like he was told. As Madame Pomfrey was doing the last check on him, he dared to ask about Juliana.

"Is the girl any better?" He said, trying to sound indifferent.

"Well, the wound is closing. Her mother is coming today, and... I don't know why I just told you that. You're good to go." She said, taking a few steps back.

_Her mother is coming. I'm dead._

_No, she knows no one can know about us. She's not going to seek me out. And he doesn't know why Juliana was attacked. Should I tell her?_

_Yes, I owe it to her. But I won't tell her in person._

Severus left the infirmary feeling conflicted.

Her mother deserved to know why her daughter was attacked, but how was he going to tell her if he didn't even know everything about the situation himself?

As he was making his way through the hallways, he came across the last person he wanted to see.

"Severus!" Avery said, as if greeting an old friend. "I was just looking for you. Are you feeling better?" He asked in a fake concerned tone. When Severus opted for narrowing his eyes instead of answering, he kept talking. "I think a walk through the grounds of Hogwarts would do you some good. And I just happen to have a free period right now." He finished with a friendly smile that didn't succeed on masking his malicious intentions. Severus knew better than to decline, so he just followed him.

"What do you want?" He asked in a low voice as soon as they were away enough from any prying ears.

"Can't I just walk with a friend?" He asked with a smirk, his words filled with venom. Severus kept silent. "Yeah, well, you got me there. You know what? I think you already know the answer." That was true. "School is ending in two months, and I don't now about you, but I already made plans for my future. If you know what I mean." Severus didn't respond, but he did know what Avery meant. "Have I ever told you how good you are at potions? You know, a skill like that can be very useful, for the right people." He said, being 'vague' on purpose.

"Get to the point." Severus said angrily.

"Okay, okay." Avery answered with a laugh that soon turned into an evil sneer. "You will join his cause, Severus. As soon as school is over. And you don't get to say no, because if you do... _she_ pays. You know... I'd be more than happy to show her how a real man does _it. _I would love to have her begging for my mercy. Obviously, I wouldn't need to do that if you don't try to be a hero."

Severus closed his eyes tightly and felt himself wanting to vomit.

"I'll do it."

* * *

Right now, Juliana was sure she heard her mother's voice. That made sense, the school had probably told her about the attack, and she traveled to see what had happened.

_I wonder what they will say to her. She knows about the danger Severus and I would be on if Slytherins knew about us. Maybe she can make a deduction? _

But her mother wasn't on her right mind now, seeing her looking dead on her bed. She didn't make any deductions. All she did was ask herself how could someone harm her daughter like that.

_She'll want to take me back to Brazil. But the year is about to end. I hope she doesn't._

And after a long talk with Dumbledore, Isabel decided to let Juliana finish the year.

But Juliana didn't know that. All she knew was that in a second her mother had kissed her head and in the next she couldn't feel her there anymore.

_I hope Severus is alright. God, what if he already talked to Avery? What if I can't see him anymore?_

She didn't know how right she was.

* * *

A week after the attack, Juliana was finally able to open her eyes. Madam Pomfrey was at her side in a second.

"Oh, dear. You are awake." She said with a relieved sigh. She checked on her for a few minutes, giving her enough time to wake up completely.

"What day is it?" She asked and was surprised to hear her strained voice. She tried to cough, but her mouth was almost completely dry. "How long was it?"

"Here, take this." Madam Pomfrey said, handing her a glass of water that she drank in three seconds. "It's been seven days." She answered, and Juliana's eyes widened.

"Seven days? What?" She said, sitting up suddenly, which only served to make her feel a sharp pain on the skin of her back that made her scream.

"Oh my. Go easy on that. You were hurt pretty badly. Now, I need to ask you a few questions." Juliana took a deep breath, she knew what was coming. "Do you remember anything from that night?"

"I ony remember my back burning and people screaming_ Crucio_." She said, and Madam Pomfrey's eyes widened in an instant. "Nothing else. I screamed and then blacked out. I didn't see anyone." She finished, as convincing as she could.

"You didn't see anyone? You don't know how many people attacked you?" She asked, her voice an octave higher.

"No." Juliana replied, dryly.

"Juliana... what were you doing up that late, walking through the hallways, dressed on regular clothes?" Madame Pomfrey asked, carefully.

_Okay, here it comes. _She thought.

"I have not been sleeping very well. I'm not doing very good on my studies, so I thought that maybe walking would help me clear my mind. I know it's not allowed, but I thought that doing it one time wasn't going to hurt anyone. It didn't, except for myself." Juliana said, and even she was surprised of how sincere it sounded. The look on the older woman's face showed that she had believed it.

"Okay, that's enough for today. You still need to rest. The wound on your back is not fully healed yet." She said and left her alone.

* * *

Dumbedore came to see her later that day, and asked her pretty much the same questions. Except that Juliana was sure he knew what had happened, and was trying to make her say the truth. She didn't, and he eventually gave up, looking really disappointed at her.

Madam Pomfrey made her drink a potion that her mother had left for her. She listened the woman talk for fifteen minutes about how amazing Isabel was. When she finally left, Juliana fell asleep the moment her head made contact with the pillow.

* * *

She was dreaming about Severus. They were hugging and laughing and everything was right. And then she kissed him.

But kisses don't feel like that when you're dreaming.

That was real.

She woke up with a gasp and looked around trying to find _him _because she was sure he had been there. And _he had kissed her._

When she found nothing, she sighed and laid back again. Being unable to sleep, she turned to her side, trying to get more comfortable.

And then she saw it.

Sitting on the table beside the bed was an envelope that read _Juliana _on _his _handwriting. Her eyes widened and she opened it in a second. She lit up the candle next to her without even noticing, and started reading.

_I'm so sorry..._

_...I had to say yes, you know what could happen if I didn't..._

_...we can't see each other anymore..._

_...please forgive me..._

_...I love you more than anything..._

_...don't try to find me._

_Goodbye._

When she reached the end of the letter, her cheeks were already soaked with tears, and the sobs were making her shake uncontrollably.

As soon as she read the last word, she saw the letter turn into ashes in her hands.

"Oh God, no, no, come back, come back." She sobbed, the ashes already disappearing.

However, in the middle of the night, while crying and feeling the pain of her first real heartbreak, she remembered one _very important_ thing.

_The contraceptive potion._

* * *

She barely passed her exams. She couldn't focus, and she was sure most of her professors gave her an Acceptable out of pity. She didn't care.

The night before the graduation ceremony she was packing. And when she went to retrieve the things from her drawer, she saw a small bottle that made her sigh heavily.

She was supposed to drink it the night she was attacked.

She was hopeful for the first month, but when her period did not come and she started experiencing morning sickness every day, she knew it was a lost cause.

She sat on her bed, bottle on her hands, and looked at her stomach. It looked like it aways did, but she knew that was going to change soon. She threw the bottle on her suitcase and closed it angrily.

She still didn't know for sure that she was pregnant because she hadn't taken any tests and she obviously hadn't told Madam Pomfrey, but at this point it seemed dumb to deny it.

_How am I going to tell him? _She had been asking herself.

The answer was simple.

_You're not._

* * *

Severus was already gone by the time the graduation ceremony was happening. Avery stayed, of course, but he couldn't do it. He had tried to avoid seeing her at any costs, and that was going to destroy a the walls he had carefully built around his emotions.

_One week. _That was what Avery told him. In one week, he was going to join _his side, _giving up the only good thing that he had on his life. _You're doing it for her. _He repeated himself day after day.

He didn't want to think about the things he was going to do from now on, because that alone was enough to drive him insane.

* * *

After successfully raping and killing a muggle woman, Avery was celebrating with a large bottle of firewhiskey.

He was alone this time, which was a rare thing these days.

He left the pub walking unsteadily, drunk enough to not notice he was being followed. He walked without knowing where he was going, and soon found himself in a dark alley.

"Avery." He heard a voice say and turned around.

"Severus!" He slurred, moving unsteadily from side to side. "Old friend." He said, his hand going to his pocket to retrieve his wand. Severus disarmed him in a second, and Avery raised his arms in surrender, a smirk on his lips. "No need to make a mess."

"I just have a question for you." He said, walking forward. Avery took a few steps back until he felt the wall behind him. "How did you find out?" There was no need to clarify. He knew what he meant.

"That was just luck." He answered with a laugh. "I should thank Sirius Black for that." Severus eyes widened in anger and he pointed his wand directly on his throat.

"What?" He asked, his tone dangerous.

"He said it one day, when he thought no one was listening. It was on Hogsmeade. He wanted to kiss her, she punched him. That was fun to see." He said, laughing. "He was drunk."

Severus anger had reached a point it never had before. The hatred on his eyes was so intense that Avery felt scared for the first time.

"Silencio." Severus whispered. "Crucio."

He didn't know how long he spent looking at Avery shake on the floor and scream without making any sounds, but when he stopped, he became worried he had drove him insane.

"Luckily for you, you won't remember any of this. Or about _her, _for that matter." He spat. "Obliviate."

When he was done Avery was unconscious on the floor, and he threw his wand at his feet, disapparating from the scene in a second.

Sadly, he learned to master that _crucial_ spell when the Dark Mark was already burned on his skin forever, and trying to get out of _his side_ meant a fate worse than death.


	17. Chapter 17

**A huge thanks and a virtual hug to this lovely people who favorited and followed this story and I didn't mention because I hadn't realized that the list was on alphabetical order instead of chronological. Yes, punch me in the face.**

_ .Uchiha, Mockingjay2001, bookivore, dragoon109, RionD, WantsHappyEndingsforAll, Mystic-Daughter of Mystique, SuperNaturalxxFreak _**and**_ Skylar97._

**I love y'all, and if you want to review, it is appreciated as hell (which reminds me that the biggest of hugs goes to **_readingaddict24_**, who reviews every chapter and makes me super happy)**

* * *

_Cassie_

_I can't tell you how helpful your Christmas present has been. The items are great source of inspiration. And I can't even begin to talk about The Guide For The Practical Prankster. Best book we've read. I honestly didn't know muggles had such cool things. I didn't even know they had joke shops. I can understand my dad's obsession a little better now._

_Did you like your presents? We honestly didn't know what to get you at first, because you don't listen to any wizard music so that was out of the question. We also didn't know if you'd like a book, so that wasn't an option either, and the only other thing we could buy you was clothes and that definitely was not going to happen._

_We got help from Ginny, though. She showed us the store and helped us pick which ones to get you, so the credit mostly goes to her._

_I hope you had a great Christmas. My dad was back and we could celebrate it with him, so we had a pretty good time. He's healing amazingly fast, and I speak for all my family when I say thank you. Please tell your mother that we will never be able to pay the debt we have with her._

_I hope you get this letter soon_

_Love,_

_Fred_

* * *

_Dear Fred (and George)_

_I absolutely loved your presents. Thank Ginny for me, they are the nicest earrings and bracelet I own at the moment. I never take them off. Ask Tonks if you don't believe me. And they serve pretty well as a reminder of you both. Thank you._

_I probably should have mentioned that I have an addiction for Honeydukes' sweets. That could have made your search a lot easier and I would've been a happy lady. I'm glad I didn't, though. But now you know._

_My mother said that if you ever again dare to say that you have a debt with her, she's going to kill you._

_Okay, maybe she didn't say it like that... but she wants you to know that she did it without any ulterior motives, and the only thing you have to do in exchange is accepting that you don't owe her anything._

_We did have an amazing Christmas, we spent it in Brazil with my mother's family. It was so much fun. And an amazing New Year, too. Tonks stopped by with her parents. We had quite a good time._

_I almost forgot._

_Please ask your mother what kind of wool does she use to knit her sweaters. Not that I know how to knit... but I want to know. This sweater is honestly the most comfortable and warm piece of clothing I have. My mom loves hers too. And please thank her for us._

_God, it sucks that Christmas break ended. I already got used to being lazy all day. You know, if I knew what my Patronus was, I think it'd be a sloth._

_Yeah, that would make sense._

_Good luck with the rest of the year, I hope it doesn't get too much worse_

_Take care_

_Cassie_

* * *

"Because maybe... you're gonna be the one that saves me..." Cassandra sang absentmindedly as she listened to the radio while doing her homework. "And after-" Her singing was cut short by the sound of the front door being opened roughly. She turned the radio off immediately and became alert.

"Severus! What happened?" She heard her mother scream and in a second she was out of her room and coming down the stairs two steps at time.

"Dad? Oh God, what happened?" She asked, a look of pure panic on her face, her voice already strained.

"Potter." He spat, and she saw the anger and hatred on his eyes, and for a second she thought they were directed at the boy, but... no. She knew that look.

He was angry at himself.

"Cassandra, go make your father a cup of tea. No, a pot of tea." Juliana said and she obeyed without saying a word. She was in the kitchen and her parents were on the living room, but she could still hear them talking clearly.

"He looked inside the Pensieve." He said, and she knew he was probably trembling by now because his voice was shaking.

Her mother didn't answer for a few seconds. "What did he see?" She asked, her tone comforting, the same she used whenever Cassandra had a nightmare as a kid. She decided that her father was probably more comfortable talking to her mother alone, even if he knew she was listening, so she took her time to prepare the tea.

"He was only able to see when..." he began, his voice breaking at the end. He didn't speak for a minute. "When I called _her_ a mudblood. I pulled him out on time, but if I hadn't, the next thing he was going to see was me and you with Cassandra. What would've happened then? You know Voldemort already know about their connection. It would have meant the end for all of us." His voice was low now. "I was foolish. I put you both in danger." He didn't speak for a while. "I have... discontinued our lessons." He finished with a sigh.

Judging by his tone her mother had succeeded in calming him down, and she decided now it was a good time to bring him the tea. She placed it on the table in front of him and went to sit beside him on the couch, her head moving to rest on his shoulder. He placed his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close to him.

"I'm sorry." He said, kissing her hair.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." She replied quoting him and making him smile.

"It's already late, Cassie. You need to sleep." Her mother said and she nodded, getting up. It was late, but she knew the real reason why her mother said it was because she needed some time to talk to him alone.

Before she left she hugged Severus tightly.

"I love you, dad." She said.

"I love you too, darling."

* * *

Severus was finishing his second cup of tea, now feeling at almost complete ease, when Juliana spoke.

"Are you staying for the night?" She asked, leaning into him. Her hand went to the back of his head, softly running her fingers through his hair. He left the cup on the table and closed his eyes, sighing.

"Yes." He said, and turned his face so he could look directly at her. He felt her hand pushing his head forward, and a second later her lips were moving softly against his. However, like with all their kisses since they were teenagers, the situation got heated up very fast.

"Let's go to the bedroom." Juliana said before things went too far and he nodded.

On her room, Cassandra heard the door of her parent's slam and smiled/cringed at the thought of what was obviously going to happen.

* * *

_Dear Cassie_

_I'm sorry I didn't write for so long. Things are awful._

_I haven't told you about the Inquisitorial Squad yet, have I?_

_No, I haven't, because Umbridge just created it, with the power her new Headmistress title gave her. I'm sure your father has already told you what happened. Everything went from bad to worse to unbearable in a short time._

_The Inquisitorial Squad is a group of students who were given the power to do whatever they wanted, including docking house points and giving detentions. They also had the specific task of finding Dumbledore's Army. Which they did._

_Which leads me to the next subject._

_The school is practically burning, and George and I can't take it anymore. I was reading your old letters the other day and I came across something you said that really got to me. I don't think you'll remember, so I will write it for you._

_**Of course that she needs to be stopped, but at what cost? Someone who's ready to do that has to be prepared to be sacked or face expulsion.**_

_We've decided that we are ready to face expulsion. You know that finish our schooling was never relevant for opening the shop._

_We planed a great exit, and that means doing something we're sure Umbridge will never forget. Well, no one will._

_We got your birthday present. I think you really outdid us, they will be very useful when we open the shop. _

_We already know they cost you a fortune. When Ginny saw them, well, the tag on them, she said that Phillip Keiser was a worldwide famous designer, and that he never makes two equal suits. _

_But I promise that next time, I will outdo you._

_By the time you get this letter, we believe we'll be long gone from Hogwarts. The shop will be on 93 Diagon Alley, it's quite a nice spot. We plan on having a big opening day on April 20.  
_

_I hope you're not disappointed at us, we know everyone else is going to be._

_Love,_

_Fred_


	18. Chapter 18

**Special thanks to: **_YellowSummerDaisy, Magikat, MistGirl1423, tvismylife272 _**and**_ peeta1234567. _**You make my day happier.**

**And of course, a virtual hug to **_readingaddict24_**, who is the best ever.**

**Okay, this one is hella short. I think it's the shortest one so far. ****(I just checked and no, there is another one that is even shorter.)**

** But it had to be done, and even if is a filler chapter and kinda shitty, important stuff happens.**

**Bolded sentences are meant to be on Portuguese.**

* * *

"**So... I am.**" Juliana said with a sigh. Her mother looked at her.

"**Yes, you are. I don't think you really believed there was a chance you weren't.**" Isabel replied, sitting next to her.

"**I find it hard to feel like this is my fault.**" She said after a while, rubbing her eyes.

"**Probably because it wasn't. Or Severus'.**" Her mother said, her tone soft.

"**Yes, I know. God, what am I going to do?**" She asked, her face buried on her hands.

"**Well, that's a question only you can answer. What do you want to do?**"

"**I did not mean it like that. I'm having this baby.**" She responded, her voice filled with determination. "**I mean what am I going to do after she's born. I need a job.**"

"**She?**" Her mother asked, one eyebrow raised. Juliana rolled her eyes.

"**You know as well as I do that she is a girl.**" Her mother nodded.

"**We'll figure it out. You wanted to become a potioneer, and you will. It may take a little more time... but we'll help you get there.**" She said, holding her hand.

Juliana stared out of the window for a long time, deep in thought.

"**Honey, are going to tell him?**" Isabel asked, carefully. Juliana took a deep breath.

"**No. Giving him something to lose is the worst thing I could do now.**" She answered, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

* * *

Several months and a very noticeable belly later, Juliana was making herself a cake. When taking it out of the oven, she felt a strong contraction on her stomach, and bended because of the pain.

"**Jesus, what are you doing in there, Cassie?**" She asked to her baby, ignoring the situation, until fifteen minutes later, when she felt another strong contraction. "**Oh God. What's happening, there are two months left still.**" She said to herself, making her way outside where her mother was taking care of her garden. By now she was freaking out and her breath was labored. "**Mom... I'm having contractions.**" She said, holding onto the door frame. Her mother looked up and walked to help her quickly.

"**How often are you feeling them?**" Isabel asked.

"**Um...**" she said looking at her watch. "**I already had two and last one was ten minutes ago.**"

"**Get in the car, we're going to the hospital.**" She said and Juliana did as she was told. Her mother went inside quickly to get the keys and was back in twenty seconds.

As Isabel started the car, Juliana winced in pain and closed her eyes tightly.

"**Shiiiiiiit. What's happening? She was supposed to be born on late December!**" She screamed, and felt something wet running down her legs. "**MY WATER BROKE!**" She cried out, her eyes wide and panicked.

"**Calm down, sweetie. It's just going to be a premature birth. You know you were born before it was due, too. Just breathe and try to relax, it will be easier.**" Her mother said in a soothing voice. Juliana nodded.

"**Yes. Okay. Relax. Relax. Sorry I broke my water on your car, mom.**" She apologized with her eyes closed, taking deep breaths through her nose and exhaling from her mouth.

"**Don't worry about it. We're almost there.**" She said, pulling over the parking lot of the hospital. As she opened the door, another contraction hit her.

"**Damn, fuck, shit. Relax, relax.**" She said to herself.

When they entered the building, a nurse took her to a room on a wheeling chair as her mother made the paperwork.

"**Don't worry Juliana, Doctor Ferreira will be here in a second.**" She said as Juliana placed herself comfortably on the bed. A few minutes after she left, a dark skinned woman with a gentle smile entered the room. Juliana sighed in relief.

"**Thank God you're here.**" She said and the doctor laughed.

"**I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world, darling. Now, let me see.**" She examined her for a few minutes before she talked again. "**You are not fully dilated yet, we will have to wait a few hours.**"

* * *

"**Oh, hello.**" Juliana said as they handed her the smallest and most beautiful human being she had ever seen. "**How are you, Cassie?**" The baby had her eyes closed and was making small sounds with her mouth, but at the sound of her mother's voice, she slowly opened them. Juliana's breath itched. The eyes that were looking back at her were exactly the same as _his. _Her eyes filled with tears.

"**We will be taking her now, Juliana. She still is a premature baby and needs special care.**" Juliana sighed and the nurses took Cassandra away. Her mother came to her side and she hugged her.

"**She's perfect.**" Isabel said and her daughter started crying.

"**Yes, she is.**" She replied, drying her tears. "**What day is it? October 30?**" She asked and her mother shook her head.

"**It's already October 31.**"

* * *

Juliana was able to take Cassandra home on December 17. The doctors said that she had had perfect health, just as if she had been born when she was supposed to.

Everyone in the family fell in love with her the moment they saw her. She laughed and spent a lot of time drooling, but she loved the attention and always being on someone's arms. When she was five months old, her first two teeth appeared. With that, she decided that biting people was the most amazing activity she could spend her day enjoying.

When she was eight months old, after mumbling incoherent sounds all day, she finally said her first word.

"_Daddy._"

Juliana had made sure that Cassandra saw every day at least one picture of Severus. All while she pointed at them and said _Daddy. **Can you say **daddy**?** _So, even if she also encouraged every day to learn other words, her heart was ecstatic _that_ had been her first word.

Shortly before her first birthday, she was already able to walk. Her hair was long enough now for everyone to see that it was black as darkness, as black as _his._ Everyone in the family had seen that hair before. However, no one dared to ask what had happened to Severus. They knew that the moment they did, Juliana broke down.

After her first year, she was able to form mostly coherent sentences. She knew the names of everyone that visited often, and was able to recognize Severus on any photography.

But it was on the day of her third birthday that everything changed forever.


	19. Chapter 19

To the Guest who reviewed**: I wish I could hug you and bake you a cake. I honestly loved your review. I've been wanting to read something like that since I started the story. I will take your criticism into consideration, and I will do a bigger effort to make my writing seem more real. Thank you for taking your time to help me. You don't know how much I appreciate it. I also revised my old chapters, trying to change the amount of screams I put there. **

**However, I think it's important for me to ****emphasize the fact that English is not my native language. All I've learned I did by myself, by watching videos, movies, listening to music and reading. My vocabulary is not too diverse, and many times I find myself not knowing how to write what I want to say. I do my best, and I am aware that, most of the time, it's just not enough.**

**I overuse "said" as well, and I am aware of that. I'm trying to fix it, but it's hard.**

**Anyway, thank you so much. And if you want to keep reviewing and helping me improve, it's more than welcome.**

**Thanks **_readingaddict24_ **for reviewing again *hug*, I hope all your questions are answered on the next few chapters; and thank you to **_Pandannae03, RememberGoliad _**and **_alyana black _**for the follows!**

**...**

**There is a part on the chapter that is an exact transcript from the book. You'll know when you read it. Just wanted to clarify that I didn't write it, you know. Even if it's obvious.**

**This chapter is over 4k words, hope that makes up for the short ass chapters I posted before.**

**Warning: Fred can seem out of character but honestly I refuse to believe that everything is always sunshine and rainbows for him and George.**

* * *

For Fred and George it had been a wonderful day. To put it simply, the Big Opening had been an absolute success. The shop had been filled all day with people laughing and enjoying themselves. Only remembering how much fun everyone had when they tried their products was enough to put a wide smile on Fred and George's faces.

"I think we're done for today, Verity. You should go home." Fred said as he looked at the now empty shop with a pleased expression on his face.

"Thank you Mr. Weasley. Have a good night." She said with a smile and started put her coat on. "Until Monday, Mr. Weasley." She said to George on her way out.

"Goodbye, Verity." He replied, smiling at her.

"I'm gonna go get the boxes for restocking the shelves." George said and Fred nodded as took of his suit off and loosened his tie.

"Yeah, I'm gonna start counting the money on the register." After a few minutes of this, the bell on the door that signaled a customer had entered or exited sounded. Verity had been the last person to go and George wasn't there, which meant someone had just entered. Fred was concentrated, so he didn't bother to look up when he spoke.

"Sorry, we're already closed. Come back on Monday."

"Monday? But I'm only on town for the weekend." A _very _familiar voice said and Fred looked up in an instant, only to find Cassandra's smiling face. He left what he was doing in a second and practically ran to where she was. She left the bag she was holding carefully on the floor just before he scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly. She laughed and hugged him just as tight.

"I can't believe you came." He said, still holding her in his arms.

"Well," she said as they pulled apart, "at first I thought of writing you a letter, you know, telling you about how proud of you both I was..." his face lit up and she laughed. "But then I thought _Oh, what the hell, I deserve a weekend off. _So... I decided I would give you my response in person. Literally."

"Who are you talking to, Fred?" George said, his upper body covered by the boxes he was carrying. "Have you gone mental already?" He asked as he set the boxes on the floor, but as soon as he did his eyes landed on Cassandra. "Cassie!" He yelled as he saw her and she ran into his arms. "What are you doing here? _How_ did you get here?" He asked as he hugged her.

"Oh, you just missed the explanation. Too bad." He rolled his eyes, smiling. "And I got here by portkey." She looked him up and down and then turned to look at Fred. "Are these the suits I gave you?" They nodded, smiling. "Oh my God!" She said, laughing. "You've managed to make them look horrible! I didn't know it was possible!" They faked offense.

"That hurts, Cassandra." George said, drying a nonexistent tear. "We put all our effort and creativity into thinking about the nicest looking suit we can wear and you say things like this. You are such a _meanie._" She opened her mouth as if he had just said the most terrible thing.

"How dare you call me that, you big... poop!" Now it was George's turn to look dramatically offended.

"Take that back." He said, pointing a finger at her.

"Make me." She said and looked at him for a second before running to hide behind the shelves. He ran after her and Fred sighed, annoyed.

"Take it back!" He said as she ran and laughed.

"No, stay away from me! YOU. HAVE. COOTIES!" She shrieked as he catched her from behind and lifted her from the floor.

"You've stepped over the line. Get out of this shop right now." He said, suddenly serious. She laughed harder and he joined her shortly after.

When they came back to the front of the shop, Fred was looking rather irritated and his arms where crossed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Cassandra asked, frowning, as George narrowed his eyes at him.

"Nothing." He said, waving off the question with a smile. "Where are you staying?"

"I'm renting a room at the Leaky Cauld-" she started to say but he cut her off.

"No, you're not." Fred said in a very decisive tone.

"Why staying in that ugly place when you can have our comfortable couch to sleep on?" George said with a smile.

"Well... because I can have a comfortable **bed** there and-"

"Of course you can stay with us! You don't need to ask twice!"

"I haven't even asked you once-" she said and this time Fred interrupted her, joining the conversation.

"Yes, of course George will take your stuff to the apartment, you just follow me." George nodded and went to grab the bag that was on the floor. When he saw it was moving slightly, his eyes widened.

"Cassie, what's inside this bag?" He asked, barely being able to contain the excitement on his voice.

"I'd rather if you asked _who's inside that bag..._" She said with a smile and was rewarded with a happy bark and a black head popping out of it.

And just like that, George was lost to the rest of the world.

"Yeah, I'll just take my stuff myself, he won't be any help now." Juliana said and Fred shook his head. With a wave of his wand, he closed the windows of the shop and locked the doors.

"I'll take it." Fred said and picked the now empty bag from the floor. She laughed.

"I think I can handle an empty bag." She said taking it from his hand and he smiled.

"Okay, let's go." He replied and the three walked to the stairs that led to their apartment, George on the lead with Rocko on his arms.

"Well..." Fred started as they entered the room. "It's not a big deal but..."

"This is so cool." Juliana said in awe as she walked to the window that looked to the street. "You can see all the shops from here!" She said happily and turned to smile at Fred, who smiled back, happy at her reaction.

"Are you hungry?" George asked as she sat on the couch.

"Starving." She answered, closing her eyes and leaning back.

"I can go get something, and I could also take Rocko for a walk..." George said, trying to sound casual.

"Yeah, go." Fred answered and Cassandra agreed with a nod.

"His leash is on the pocket of the backpack. I think he has to pee, so make sure he does it somewhere or he'll do it on your floor." George nodded and was gone a minute later.

"Have you been sleeping?" Fred asked with concern on his voice, sitting next to her on the couch. She sighed and opened her eyes to look at him.

"Not very well these past few days." He didn't need to ask why, he knew the reason. She leaned into his shoulder and he huddled closer, taking her hand on his and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Are you disappointed at us?" He asked quietly, almost shy, after a while.

"Why on Earth would I be disappointed at you?" She asked, frowning.

"Because we dropped out of school." She scoffed.

"Yeah, and shortly after opened what's probably the most awesome joke shop in the world. I'm the opposite of disappointed. Why do you ask?" She said, now curious.

"Our parents are disappointed. They always wanted us to get a job at the Ministry with dad." He said, running a hand through his hair. "You know what my mother said when Ron got his prefect badge?" He asked, clearly upset. "_That's everyone in the family_. Everyone. But we weren't prefects! She just dismissed us as if we are not as important as our brothers." Cassandra sighed sadly and turned so she was hugging his middle. This sudden movement surprised him, but wasn't unwelcome.

"I'm sure that's not what she meant, Fred." She whispered, not knowing what else to say.

"I believe it is, but thanks for trying." He was silent for a while. "They..." he started to say but his voice broke. Juliana looked up to see his eyes filled with tears. She frowned and felt her own eyes starting to water too. He cleared his throat. "They didn't come today. We asked, but..." he stopped as his voice broke once again and the tears started to fall, and with his, hers did too.

"I didn't want to make you cry." He said brokenly and she cried harder, hugging him. He clung to her as tightly as she did, and he cried because she was crying and because he was sad for his own reasons, just like her.

"I love you, Fred." She said without letting go.

"I love you too, Cassie." He answered, a strange new feeling starting to build on their chests.

* * *

George came back half an hour later, when they already had enough time to calm down. He had brought two boxes of pizza and a bag of dog food.

They sat on the small table that was kitchen and began eating. Cassandra looked at the box deep in thought.

"This was not made by wizards." She concluded.

"Nope. I've taken the liberty to roam the streets of Muggle London. It was quite fun. I've been learning how to handle their currency." George said, looking very proud of himself. Cassandra nodded appreciatively and Fred rolled his eyes.

"Stop feeding him!" She said as George gave Rocko a small bite of his pizza. "He's already fat as it is. You're spoiling him!" He made a face at her.

"You're jealous he likes me more than you." She threw him a piece of food that hit him square on the forehead.

"He does not!" She said, looking insulted.

"He kinda does..." Fred contributed. She looked at him with her eyes wide and her mouth open. "Uh..." he said, looking nervous. George, on the other hand, was smiling smugly.

"Oh, wipe that stupid smile from your face you bloody wanker." She said and he had the nerve to laugh in her face.

"Calm down, your British is showing." Fred said, laughing with his brother.

"Ugh!" She cried out, pulling her hair but finally being unable to not laugh with them. "I hate you." She said, slamming her head on the table. The sudden noise alerted Rocko, who walked to her to see what was wrong. He stood on two legs, placing his front paws on her knees. She picked him up and he licked her face, wagging his tail happily.

"HA!" She squealed victoriously. "Like hell he likes you more." George rolled his eyes.

"What are you, five?" He asked, playing mature.

"And three quarters." She replied, sticking her tongue out at him.

* * *

The next day the shop was closed, so they decided to take full advantage of the hours they had left together.

"Guys..." she said as she was finishing her breakfast. They both looked at her. "How much of muggle London do you know?" They blushed.

"Not much, actually. We are familiar with the village that is close to our house, but we mostly stayed home because we didn't know how to handle ourselves alone. And we didn't see much when going to Kings Cross." George explained. "We've been venturing a little more now that we live alone but it's always somewhere close. What about you?"

"Well I know quite a lot. I've visited dozens of times. I think... I should give you a tour." She said, a mischievous smile on her face. "Get dressed." She commanded and they both went to their rooms to change.

"Are we apparating?" Fred asked as they exited the shop from the back entrance that lead to an empty alley.

"YEAH, RIGHT." She said sarcastically. "I'd rather keep my guts inside me, thank you very much. I'll take care of the transportation."

"Are we travelling by portkey?" George asked.

"Nope. Give me your hands." She said, extending hers. They frowned but took them without hesitating.

"You won't feel a thing." She assured closing her eyes.

"Wha-" They started to ask but stopped when suddenly their vision became very blurred, and the colours changed fast before their eyes. This only lasted one second, and they were in another alley before they knew what was going on.

"What the hell did just happen?" They asked at the same time as Cassandra released their hands, a very pleased smile on her face.

"Well, let's say we have our own form of Apparition." She answered and started to walk, but Fred grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"That was way too vague. How on Earth did you do that and why are we not learning how to do it?" She sighed.

"You need a higher control of your magic to be able to do that. And as I recall, you can only apparate if you have your wand with you, right? That's because it gives you a higher level of protection and control. But if you can't apparate without a one, you won't be able to do this. You can learn, as soon as you learn how to stop relying on your wand." They looked very sullen at this answer. "Oh, don't worry. Once this whole thing is over, I will be teaching you myself." She knew it was a futile attempt to cheer them up, but they smiled at her anyway.

"Where are we?" Fred asked as they followed her out of the lonely alley.

"Two blocks away from our first stop: Piccadilly Circus."

She adjusted her backpack and started to lead the way. They tried to not look to excited, but it was proving itself very difficult. They weren't used to being on a place like this one, and everything seemed fantastic.

"Wow. This place is amazing" Fred said as they reached their destination, looking up at the big signs on the buildings. "What's a _Coca Cola_?" He asked.

"It's a beverage. We can have one later. It's sweet and rather addictive." She replied. "And if you think this place is cool, wait until I take you to Times Square." She said looking at him with a smile.

"What's Times Square?" George asked. "And when do you plan on taking us there?"

"It's just a place on New York. And I plan on taking you to America as soon as I graduate. There are so many things and places I want you to see." She said, getting very excited.

"You want us to go visit you in America?" George asked, a smile on his and his brother's faces.

"Uh... yeah." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But right now I'm studying hard and I need to focus. That's why I came here, actually. Besides wanting to be there for you on the Opening Day, even if I didn't make it on time." She said, blushing.

"Hey, you know it's okay." Fred said, moving closer to her.

"Yeah... well, it was because I'm feeling very stressed right now. It's not only because of my studies, you know what else is happening." She said and they nodded. George put his arm around her shoulders and brought her close. She hugged his waist and leaned into him.

"We should keep going." Fred said, his tone serious.

* * *

The day had been amazing and so much fun. They visited places they didn't even knew that existed, and learned a lot of muggle culture from Cassandra.

However, it was time for her to leave.

"Will you come again?" George asked, hopefully. She smiled sadly.

"I don't think so. Not until I finish school, I mean. And our post system can no longer work so..." She waited a few seconds before talking again. "Will you come to my graduation?" She asked fast and they blinked.

"Yes, of course." Fred said, taken aback by her request. She smiled widely.

"Really? Oh my God, that's amazing. It's on July 5. I will make sure you get a portkey." She said, excitedly.

"Where do you get so many portkeys, anyway? Are they not controlled or something?" George asked.

"Oh no, they are. But my parents know very well how to make them and the Ministry can't really tell when someone is making one." She replied with a smile.

"Wicked." They said at the same time. She looked at her watch and her expression saddened.

"I have to go." She said and hugged them both tightly.

"See you soon." They said and she smiled before disappearing in the darkness of the night.

When they were back on their flat, Fred crossed his arms and looked at his twin with a frown.

"What?" Asked George, confused.

"Do you like Cassandra?"

"Of course I like her, I wouldn't be friends with her if I didn't." He replied, avoiding the real question in purpose.

"You know what I mean." Fred said, his frown now a grave scowl.

"Oh... you mean if I like her the way **you** like her. No, she's like a sister." He replied, rolling his eyes. Fred's eyes opened wide and his mouth fell.

"I DON'T LIKE HER!" He shrieked, defensively.

"Oh, yeah. No, you're right. You don't. Sure." George said, sarcastically.

"I don't like her." Fred repeated, more calmed now.

"Whatever you say, mate." George replied, entering his room and closing the door behind him.

* * *

Harry knew his last chance of letting the Order know what was going on was walking out of the door.

"He's got Padfoot!" he shouted. "He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!"

Snape had stopped with his hand on Umbridge's door handle.

"Padfoot?" cried Professor Umbridge, looking eagerly from Harry to Snape. "What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?" Snape looked around at Harry. His face was inscrutable. Harry could not tell whether he had understood or not, but he did not dare speak more plainly in front of Umbridge.

"I have no idea," said Snape coldly. "Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little, if Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork, and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on your reference if ever you apply for a job."

He closed the door behind him with a snap, leaving Harry in a state of worse turmoil than before.

* * *

When Severus was far enough, he cursed under his breath and hurried his steps to his office. Once there he contemplated the possibility of using the Floo Network to communicate to Grimmauld Place, but even if Umbridge was too preoccupied with the kids to realize what he was doing, it was a risk he was not willing to take.

So he took one of the vials that was close to him and after muttering the spell, touched and was quickly transported two blocks away from the house. He was walking fast to the door, and once it appeared he opened it with his wand, slamming it against the wall.

"BLACK!" He yelled as he walked inside, his wand out.

"What the hell?" Sirius asked, appearing from the kitchen with an angry scowl on his face. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He said, taking his own wand out too.

Severus face turned into something mixed with relief and deep anger.

"I knew it was a lie." He lowly said to himself, entering the room. "Expecto Patronum!" He shouted and multiple silver does came out of his wand, each disappearing different ways. He turned to Sirius, who seemed more surprised about having seen someone conjure various Patronus at once than the fact that they were identical to Lily's. "Your _godson_," began Severus, his voice dangerous, "was tricked by the Dark Lord to believe that he had _you_ trapped in the Department of Mysteries." Sirius eyes opened wide and panic clouded his face. "Umbridge called me to her office and he was there. He found a way to tell me without her knowing what he was saying. However, I don't believe she'll be able to hold him for long. I'm _sure_ he'll find a way to get there. Wait for the members of the Order, I'll go back to the school and I'll send a message if he leaves the grounds." Sirius couldn't speak so he just nodded. Severus turned fast and was about to go when his voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Severus, wait." He said with no malice on his voice, and Severus was absolutely taken aback by him using his name like that. He looked at Sirius with narrowed eyes and suspicion.

"What?" Sirius opened his mouth only to close it again, not knowing how to say what he wanted. He turned away from Severus' intense gaze and he scoffed.

"I don't have time for your nonsense, Black." He said angrily and started to walk away when his voice made him stop once again.

"I'm sorry." Severus head turned slowly, his face a mix of anger and disbelief. Sirius took a few steps back. "I know it's not enough. It will never be enough. But..." he said and waited a few seconds before clearing his throat. "If I could take back everything we did to you, I would. And," He said and stopped once again, as if saying this was causing him an immense pain. "Thanks for your help."

Severus face was emotionless, but he gave him the slightest of nods before leaving the house as fast as he could.

* * *

"Draco!" Severus screamed as he reached Umbridge's office, that now had the door opened wide. The boy was unconscious with the others on the floor. He kneeled down and slapped his cheeks softly in an attempt to wake him up.

Draco stirred and opened his eyes slowly.

"What happened? Where are Potter and the others?" Severus asked and Draco's face morphed into pure anger and hatred.

"They got away! That stupid Weasley bitch hexed me!" He said angrily, touching his nose.

Severus cursed inwardly but his face remained impassive.

"Get up, we need to take you and the others to Madam Pomfrey." He said and Draco nodded as Severus levitated the other boys.

Once they reached the infirmary, Severus explained quickly what had happened and excused himself saying that he had to find the others.

He didn't wait until he reached his office, once he was out of the infirmary and, after he made sure no one was around, took out his wand to conjure his Patronus.

It split in two, one going to Grimmauld Place and the other to Dumbledore.

* * *

Cassandra was coming down the stairs, a tired expression on her face. She walked directly to the couch and let her dead weight fall on top of it.

"Cass, are you okay?" Her mother asked, laughing. Her reply was muffled by the cushion she had her face buried on. "I can't understand what you're saying."

"I DON'T WANNA STUDY ANYMORE." She said miserably, lifting her head only to bury it again once she was done.

"It will be over in less than a month, darling." Her mother said softly.

"Whatever." She said, now sitting. A few seconds later they heard someone on their backyard. This normally meant that Severus was home, but he wasn't supposed to come today. Both women stood up from their seats and walked to the kitchen, where the door was located. Severus entered the room as they appeared on the doorway.

"What happened?" Juliana asked, worried, as she took in his appearance. It didn't seem like he was hurt, but he looked worn out.

"Black is dead." He said coolly, and she gasped.

"What?" She said with her mouth agape, Cassandra mirroring her expression behind her. He then proceeded to tell them everything that had happened, from Voldemort's intrusion to Harry's mind to the Minister seeing him with his own eyes. By the end of the story, Juliana was crying and Cassandra was looking at the floor, her face emotionless.

"He apologized." Severus said a few minutes later, Juliana now huddled close to him.

"Sirius?" Cassandra asked, rubbing her eyes. Her father nodded. "What did he say?"

"That he knew it wasn't enough. And if he could take everything he did to me, he would." He replied, indifferent.

"How does that make you feel?" Juliana asked, holding his hand.

"I still haven't figured it out." He said and winced when he felt a searing pain on his forearm. He put his hand over it and both his wife and daughter gasped.

"No. No." Juliana said, her eyes filling with tears again. Severus kissed her lips softly.

"I have to go." He replied, standing up and making his way to the door. Juliana grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"When he's done, you come here first. Not anywhere else. Here. You understand?" She said seriously, her voice strained. He nodded and kissed her deeply. When they pulled away he moved to Cassandra, who was crying in silence.

She fell into his harms and hugged him tightly.

"I love you, dad." She said between sobs.

"I love you too." He said, kissing her forehead.

And without looking back, he disappeared.

* * *

**I just wanted to make clear that when Cassie and Fred said that they loved each other, it was as friends.**

**For now.**

**Review to save a life! **

**Just kidding, but you could make a teenage girl very happy.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Warning: In this chapter I have tried to find a way of justifying Severus early Death Eater actions, as opposed to canon, where he clearly fucked up. But this is here, and I have already said that this story was AU, and I've tried to make it as canon compliant as I could, but there are things I will obviously change to serve the purpose of my story.**

**Also, there are dialogues (you'll know which when you read them) that are an almost exact transcript from the book. I just changed a very little thing. So, I obviously don't own them.**

**Bolded sentences are spoken in portuguese, you know how it goes.**

* * *

Severus had done terrible things. The memories of the people he had tortured haunted his nights and days, and he wasn't sure how much more of it he could take.

These days he was staying at one of the cheapest rooms on the Hog's Head, and right now was drinking a rather large glass of firewhiskey. His presence was lost in the darkness of the pub, his robes black and his hair covering his face. The place was almost empty, but he had seen Albus Dumbledore enter with a strange looking woman a while ago.

With a sigh he reached to his pocket, pulling out a necklace and examining it carefully. He held it tightly in his hand for a second and then let go only to hear a small crack signaling that it had opened. Inside was a picture of himself kissing a girl. Right next to it the words "I will love you forever - J & S" were carved in a flawless handwriting.

Severus had discovered how to open Juliana's locket a year before. One dark night, after being badly tortured by Lord Voldemort, he ended up on his now abandoned childhood home, trying to recover. At first he couldn't move, so he just stayed curled up in the floor, covered in blood. Slowly he brought his hand to his neck and pulled a chain out of his shirt. He held it tightly on his trembling hand and started to cry.

On his mind, flashing images of Juliana smiling, laughing, and kissing him were plaguing his thoughts.

"I love you. I love you. I need you. I love you." He repeated again and again, his voice lower than a whisper. After a few seconds, he felt a small pressure on the hand that was holding the locket, and opened it only to find out that it was no longer closed. He frowned, and brought his other hand to open it completely. What was inside felt like a stab to his heart.

The picture that Juliana had taken of both of them kissing on Christmas Break was inside, something he couldn't quite read now written on the other side.

"_Only love will set you free._" He repeated out loud and even cracked a smile. "You clever girl." He said and closed the locket, a newfound strength filling his body.

But now that moment was long gone, and he wasn't sure if he could keep this going. He wanted to live, he _dreamed _with the day The Dark Lord was defeated so he could try to find her and _maybe _they could be together again.

He didn't finish his drink. He just paid for it and decided to go back to his room. On his way there, however, the loud sound of a weird voice catched his attention. He looked at the door. If he recalled correctly, it was where Dumbledore had gone with the strange woman.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... _" He heard before he was roughly pulled away from the door by the owner of the place.

"What do you think you're doing, eavesdropping like a filthy rat?" He asked, anger clear on his voice, before he threw him out of the pub. "Don't you dare to come back here, slimy bastard." He said before closing the door on his face.

But Severus had heard enough. There was someone who was going to be able to defeat Voldemort... that meant there was still hope. He was roughly pulled from his thoughts by the burning feeling of the Dark Mark on his forearm. He panicked. _I can't let him know this, _he thought desperately. But his Occlumency skill was not fully developed, and it barely helped him hide his memories of Juliana and Lily.

With his inner turmoil growing bigger by the second, he apparated from the place.

* * *

This was, it seemed, a gathering for bringing new information to Voldemort. He was seeing people begging for mercy as they were tortured because they didn't have anything that interested him. He was having difficulty with getting a grip of his thoughts, and this was making him feel more and more anxious. He tried to not show it, but it was becoming very hard.

"Severus." He heard _his_ voice say, and walked to him, trying to not succumb to the pressure he was feeling. He bowed in front of him and kissed his feet. "Severus... you've proven yourself a very reliable follower, your potions have been of great use for our cause." Voldemort said, his voice low and terrifying. "However, you know I expect the best my followers can give me, and your potions are not enough anymore. You agree with me, I assume." He said, not giving room for a negative answer.

"Of course, my Lord." Severus replied, not looking up.

"Look at me." Voldemort ordered and Severus didn't hesitate to obey. However, he regretted it in an instant, when he felt him invading his mind without a warning. He reacted purely by instinct and put his most recent memories on the front of his mind, Juliana and Lily going to the back to keep them safe.

The problem was that his last memory were his last moments on the Hog's Head.

Voldemort exited his mind with so much force that he fell to the ground, hitting his head hard on the stone floor. He felt dizzy but was able to focus his eyesight again for a second, only to see Voldemort's evil red eyes looking more furious than ever. After that, everything disappeared.

* * *

Severus was running, out of breath, to the place he was meeting Dumbledore.

Voldemort had discovered a baby that reunited the qualities the prophecy. The boy was Harry Potter, son of James Potter and... Lily Evans.

He had hated himself with so much force as he did in that moment only two times before in his life: when he was fifteen and had lost the only friend he had because of saying such a _stupid_ word, and when he had lost the love of his life because his _friends _had found out she was in love with him.

He had already made a mistake with Lily before, but this one was much worse. Her life was at stake, and it was his own fault. He had tried to persuade Voldemort to not kill _her_, at least, because he knew the baby had a sealed fate already, and even if it was a dark and evil thought, **he wanted James Potter to die**. He wanted him to pay for what he had done to him, for being one of the worst humans that had ever set a foot on Hogwarts and despite that, being loved by everyone.

But it hadn't worked. Voldemort was not going to spare Lily. And even if he decided to do it, she was going to protect her baby until it got her killed.

So, he only had one more option.

He reached the hilltop, wand on his hand, and looked around desperately, trying to find him. The wind was loud and his hair was making it difficult for him to see clearly. His breath was labored, panic consuming him. _What if he doesn't come? _His mind screamed.

Suddenly, he saw a white light and his wand was gone from his hand. He dropped to his knees and lifted his arms, trying to show that he didn't mean any harm.

"Don't kill me!" He begged.

"That was not my intention." Dumbledore said, his tone serene but very dangerous. His wand was pointing at him, a bright light coming from the tip, illuminating both of their faces. "Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"

"No—no message— I'm here on my own account!" He replied, twisting his hands together to avoid them from trembling. "I— I come with a warning—no, a request—please—" Severus said, his voice shaking. Dumbledore flicked his wand and the loud sound of the wind disappeared.

"What request could a Death Eater make of me?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes narrowed. Severus winced at his cold tone.

"The— the prophecy... the prediction... Trelawney..." He said, failing to find the right words.

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore said, his tone unchanged. "How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?" Severus felt a pang of pain on his chest only by remembering that night.

"He knows everything—everything I heard!" He answered, deciding that explaining on detail what had happened was a waste of precious time and Dumbledore was not going to believe him anyway. "That is why—it is for that reason—he thinks it means Lily Evans!" He screamed, his tone bordering madness.

"The prophecy did not refer to a woman," Dumbledore replied, calmly. "It spoke of a boy born at the end of July—" Severus interrupted him, shaking his head.

"You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down—kill them all—" he cried out, his whole body trembling.

"If she means so much to you," Dumbledore began, "surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?" he finished, his words filled with so much venom that he felt more frightened than ever before.

"I have— I have asked him—" Severus explained, and when he saw his repulsed expression he realized his choice of words had been very poor.

"You disgust me." he said and he could feel the hate he was feeling towards him. He winced and hunched.

"You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child?" He tried to convince him, not worrying about the tears that were building on his eyes.

"They can die, as long as you have what you want?" Dumbledore asked and Severus kept silent. _Did he want that?_ He didn't care about James Potter getting killed, and he couldn't help but imagine the baby as the reminder of the fact that she had married the man that had made his teenage years a** living hell**. However, deep inside him he knew that he didn't want anything that would make Lily unhappy to happen. And that meant her son staying alive, and of course, her husband as well._  
_

"Hide them all, then," he managed to say. "Keep her— _them_— safe. Please." He begged.

"And what will you give me in return, Severus?" He was surprised at this question.

"In—in return?" He asked, and stayed silent for a few moments. _I owe it to her, this is all my fault. _"Anything."

* * *

Juliana was finishing Cassandra's birthday cake, all while the little girl looked at everything she did with an awestruck smile.

She couldn't help but smile every time her eyes fell on her small frame. She reminder her so much of Severus. She sighed sadly, but smiled anyway.

"**Mommy...**" Cassie said in a small voice after a while, looking down at the floor.

"**Yes, my love? What's wrong?**" She asked and walked to her, fearing she had hurt herself.

"**Is daddy coming today?**" Juliana felt a deep pain on her chest and resisted the urge to start crying. She managed to smile and picked her up. Cassandra laid her head on her shoulder.

"**I don't think so, darling. He's very busy now.**" She replied, her voice about to break.

"**Okay.**" The little girl said, her tone soft and somewhat resigned.

"**Hey! Why don't we go visit grandma before your party!**" She said, trying to cheer her up. It worked.

"**Yes!**" She yelled, clapping her hands.

* * *

The party consisted of mostly family and some of the kids from the neighborhood, but it was enough to make Cassie have the time of her short life.

Juliana was talking to her mother when she saw Teresa running fast to where she was, a wide smile on her face.

"**JULIANA!**" She cried out and grabbed her hand. "**Come! Come!**" She said, pulling her as she ran. Juliana frowned.

"**What happened?**" She asked but wasn't worried, the smile on her Teresa's face told her it was nothing bad. She led her to the backyard, where Cassandra was running happily on the grass, chasing her older cousins.

"**Look what happens when she steps over the grass.**" She said, pointing at the spot where her daughter had just been. Juliana's eyes opened wide, and she smiled, incredulous. On every part of the grass that Cassie had stepped on little flowers were growing at an alarming speed.

"**MOM! MOM! COME SEE THIS!**" Juliana shouted, unable to contain the excitement on her voice.

"**What is it?**" Isabel asked, appearing on the doorway. Juliana only pointed at Cassie, her eyes filled with happy tears. Her mother opened her eyes and smiled widely too. "**Her first signs of magic.**" She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Soon everyone was outside marveling on what was happening. Cassie didn't understand what was going on but welcomed the attention anyway.

* * *

By now it was already nighttime, and Juliana was helping Cassie put her pajamas on.

"**The pictures?**" She asked, hopeful. _It's still her birthday, I can't say no._ Juliana thought and nodded. Cassie squealed in excitement.

"**I'll be right back.**" She said and walked to her bedroom to get her photo album. When she found it, she looked at the _S _and_ J _on the cover_, _identical to the one she gave Severus for his birthday. She sighed, but walked to Cassandra's bedroom with a smile on her face.

Juliana laid on the bed with her, her small head resting on her chest. She always looked at the pictures with a dreamy look on her face. When they finished, Cassie looked up at her.

"**Mommy, I love daddy very much.**" Juliana smiled and kissed her forehead.

"**Me too.**"

* * *

After Cassie had fallen asleep, Juliana went downstairs to the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea. Right now she was looking at it, but her mind was elsewhere. She sighed, tiredly, and rubbed her eyes.

When she was about to turn the lights off and go to bed, she heard a loud knocking on her front door. She frowned and looked at the clock on the wall. _1 a.m. What could anyone possibly want now? _She asked herself as he made her way to the door.

"Juliana, open up!" She heard a loud male voice say.

"**Uncle Henry?**" She asked to herself, walking faster. When she opened, she saw him looking very tousled. He also looked very... _excited?_ "What the hell are you doing here?" She asked, confused. "Weren't you working in Ireland for the week?"

"He's dead, Juliana. Voldemort's dead." He said and she felt like a bucket of frozen water had fallen over her head.

"What?" She asked, her face cold as stone.

"HE'S DEAD! HE DIED! HE WAS KILLED BY A BABY! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!" He said, entering the house. Juliana didn't move from her spot on the door. "Harry Potter. That's his name. His parents were killed but when he tried to kill him... BAM! HE COULDN'T!" _Potter. _**Potter**. Something clicked in her head and she turned quickly to face him.

"Did you say Potter?" Her uncle nodded. Her heart started beating faster and faster and she felt herself about to have a panic attack. "What was the name of the mother?" She asked, desperate.

"Ugh," he said, trying hard to remember. "L...It started with an L, I know..."

"Lily Evans?" She asked, her voice strained.

"Yes! Lily Evans, well, she was Lily Potter." He replied.

"Oh God." She said and suddenly felt very dizzy. Her knees shook and she held onto the door for support.

"Juliana!" Henry said and moved to catch her. "Are you okay?" he asked, worried.

"Yeah, I just... it's a lot to take in." She lied. He nodded and brought her a glass of water. She drank it in two large gulps.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, doubtfully.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm very tired, you know Cassie's birthday was today." She half lied again and he nodded. "Go with your wife and daughter, they missed you. I'll be fine." He seemed unsure but finally accepted.

Once he was gone, Juliana let her emotions overtook her. She started crying hard, her whole body trembling. There was only one person plaguing her thoughts. _How is he feeling? He must be devastated. _

A few minutes later a thought so horrifying crossed her mind that she gasped out loud.

_Is he still alive?_

* * *

Severus didn't care how he looked at the moment, wailing and crying in front of Albus Dumbledore.

"I thought... you were going... to keep her... safe..." He managed to say between sobs.

"She and James put their faith in the wrong person," Dumbledore began, his tone dark. "Rather like you, Severus. Weren't you hoping that Lord Voldemort would spare her?" He didn't bother to answer. "Her boy survives," He said and Severus moved his head, dismissing him. "Her son lives. He has her eyes, precisely her eyes. You remember the shape and color of Lily Evans's eyes, I am sure?" He asked softly and Severus felt anger build inside him.

"DON'T!" He screamed. _How could I do this to her, I killed her. I killed her. _He repeated in his mind. "Gone... dead..." He cried.

"Is this remorse, Severus?"

"I wish... I wish I were dead..." _It should've been me instead of you. Innocent Lily. I killed you._

"And what use would that be to anyone?" Dumbledore said, not even a hint of pity on his voice. "If you loved Lily Evans, if you truly loved her, then your way forward is clear." Severus looked up, confused.

"What—what do you mean?"

"You know how and why she died. Make sure it was not in vain. Help me protect Lily's son." He shook his head.

"He does not need protection. The Dark Lord has gone—" But he knew that was a lie the moment it rolled off his tongue.

"The Dark Lord will return, and Harry Potter will be in terrible danger when he does." Dumbledore interrupted.

Severus kept quiet for a few minutes, trying to get a hold of himself. He took a deep breath and made a decision. _I owe it to her, I must pay this debt. _He repeated to himself.

"Very well. Very well. But never—never tell, Dumbledore! This must be between us! Swear it! I cannot bear... especially Potter's son... I want your word!" He screamed, the simple thought of _his mistake, his fault, the fact that Lily's blood was on his hands_, to come out was enough to drive him to the edge of his self control.

"My word, Severus, that I shall never reveal the best of you?" _The best of me? There are things not even **you** know, old man. _And just the thought of _her, _was enough to duplicate the pain he was feeling. "If you insist..."

* * *

"**I'm coming back very soon, okay baby?**" Juliana said to Cassandra as she prepared to leave. Her daughter nodded without asking any questions, and she hugged her tightly.

"Juliana, are you sure this is the best thing to do?" Isabel asked in English.

"Mom, I need to know what happened to him. I'm sure Albus Dumbledore is my best option. I'll just send him a letter and I'll wait for him to reply. Once he does and if he accepts to arrange a meeting, I will be picking her up." She was talking fast and her hands were shaking so bad she couldn't close the zip of her jacket. Her mother did it for her.

"Good luck." She said and Juliana hugged her. She touched the portkey and was gone before they could blink.

Juliana landed close to a small cottage with an owlery that was just a few miles away from Scotland.

She walked to the front desk and asked the old woman behind it if she could rent an owl. The woman nodded kindly and explained the prices and types of owls they had.

"I just want one that goes mostly unnoticed." The woman nodded and showed her a brown owl that was perched up high on the wall. Juliana paid and attached the letter to the owl's leg.

"I'd like to rent a room." She said to the lady once she was back.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was sitting on his office alone, looking disgruntled. He was deep in thought, his eyes reflecting all the years he had lived and the many things he had seen.

_Tic, tic, tic._

He looked up to his window only to see a brown owl waiting outside. He walked forward and opened it, removing the letter from its leg. The owl flew inside and perched up on a table, clearly waiting for his response.

_Professor Dumbledore_

_I must excuse myself if this letter is poorly written or too informal, but there is an urgent matter I need to discuss with you and I can't allow myself any formalities._

_I need to meet you to ask you about a very significant subject, and I also require your help._

_I am currently waiting for your answer, if you accept to meet please state the place and time on it._

_Regards_

_Juliana Souza_

He read the letter two more times, searching for something on his mind that could possibly tell him what would Juliana Souza want from him. He found nothing. But he wasn't for denying his help to someone who asked it, so he quickly scribbled an answer.

_Miss Souza,_

_I will gladly offer you my help with any matter that I can assist you with. Nevertheless, your request was immensely vague. I would have liked to prepare myself better for our encounter._

_I will gladly meet you tomorrow at 9 a.m. at the Leaky Cauldron. I've taken the liberty to assume that what concerns you is a matter that must be discussed privately, so I will meet you in the room 25. Once you get there, knock three times._

_I look forward to our meeting._

_Albus Dumbledore_

* * *

Juliana got her answer barely two hours later. She took her bag and told the nice old lady whose name she didn't bother to ask that she was already leaving, but insisted on paying for the room anyway.

She walked to the place her portkey had taken her and touched it once again.

Once she arrived to her house, she walked up the stairs and prepared some of Cassie's clothes and toys along with some of hers and both of their toothbrushes on her bag. She closed her eyes and appeared on her mother's backyard. They weren't there, so she walked inside.

"**You're already back.**" Her mother said, surprised. Cassie was sleeping peacefully on the couch.

"**Yes. We're meeting him tomorrow at 9 a.m. London time, 6 a.m. Rio time.**" She sat on a chair and covered her face with her hands.

"**Are you sure you want to take Cassandra?**" Her mother asked and she nodded.

"**I need to take her. Severus was on the bad side, mom. I don't know what I will be facing, I don't need him thinking that I agree with Voldemort's beliefs or something. She gives me a reason for wanting to know about him.**" Isabel nodded.

"**Do you want to wake her up?**" She asked and Juliana shook her head.

"**Let her sleep. She'll need it tomorrow.**"

But Cassandra woke up ten minutes later and didn't feel asleep until it was very late. She was very excited about traveling when she did, but when her mother tried to wake her up at 5 a.m. she wasn't so excited anymore. Juliana gave her a bath and dressed her on warm clothes and a wool hat. Ten minutes before it was the time to meet Albus, Juliana picked up Cassie.

"**Hold on tightly, this won't feel nice, but it won't be long, I promise.**" Cassandra nodded with her face buried on her neck.

Juliana looked at her daughter to see if she was feeling like throwing up or crying once they arrived to their destination, only to see that she had fallen asleep.

She walked to the Leaky Cauldron once she was inside went directly to the room area without even bothering to speak to anyone.

Once she reached the room 25 she looked at her watch and waited until it signaled it was six o'clock. Well, nine o'clock. When it did, she knocked three times.

The door was opened a few seconds later and she was greeted by the sight of her old headmaster looking at her with a curious twinkle on his eyes.

"Sorry, she fell asleep." Juliana said, apologizing. "Do you mind if I..." she asked, pointing at the bed inside the room.

"Please." Dumbledore said, inviting her in. She placed her daughter on the bed carefully and walked to sit with him on the table.

"She is your daughter, I presume?"

"Yes." She nodded. "That's part of the reason I'm here." Dumbledore urged her to go on. She took a deep breath and began talking. "When I received the news of Lord Voldemort's demise, I felt the urge to communicate with you. See, professor..." She said and he lifted his hand.

"Call me Albus, please. You're not a student anymore." She nodded.

"Albus, I must apologize to you." He raised an eyebrow. "I am aware that you must remember me mostly because of the attack I was victim of three years ago." She was silent for a few seconds. "After I woke up you asked me questions, and I... wasn't honest." Dumbledore's face showed no surprise at all.

"Oh yes, I am aware of that. I have the knowledge of the people who attacked you, as well. But I was never able to use this piece of information due to the fact that you refused to point anyone. I always wondered why. It was no surprise that many Slytherins were not fond of you. You had a different culture, a different way of practicing magic, and in addition, you were sorted in the house they despised more than any other. I feared an attack was going to happen, however I must admit I never thought you were going to roam the halls alone at night, which proved itself the very reason why I wasn't able to stop it. And I only found out about the rumour of you being in love with Severus Snape when it was too late. I must apologize, too." Juliana gaped at his answer, frowning deeply.

"That's not... you mean..." Something clicked on her mind. "Oh God. You don't know." She said, covering her mouth with her hand. Dumbledore actually looked surprised, and she thought there were probably just a handful of people who had the privilege of seeing that expression on his face.

"I beg your pardon?" He said and when she was about to answer she felt something poking on her leg. She looked down and saw her daughter looking at her curiously. She was still so short that the only thing that could be seen of her from over the table were her eyes. Albus was looking at the little girl attentively. Juliana picked her up and sat her on her lap so she could face him.

"Albus, this is Cassandra." She said, taking the little girl's hat only to reveal a mane of messy jet black hair. "**Say **hello** baby.**"

"_Hullow._" The little girl said with a smile, making eye contact with him, and Albus' eyes widened instantly.

_Those eyes. _

Cassandra's eyes were identical to another pair of eyes he had been seeing very often lately. The only difference was that the eyes he was looking at now where filled with wonder, happiness and an innocent brightness. The eyes he had grown accustomed to were tired and only filled with pain and sorrow, looking much more older than they were.

_Oh._

Juliana Souza being in love with Severus Snape hadn't been a rumour at all, it had been a fact. And apparently, _he had loved her back?_ All those years without knowing without what had really happened, believing something else entirely. _Juliana Souza was probably attracted to his intelligence and ability at potion making, a subject she herself excelled on. Severus, appalled by the thought of someone like her liking him had rejected her love and probably helped to plan the attack. After all, he only had eyes for Lily Evans. _That was the truth he had been inclined to believe for years, confirmed when he found out that Severus had told Voldemort about the prophecy. But now he knew that it wasn't a truth at all, it was no more than a deluded belief.

"The night I was attacked, it wasn't only because they thought I was in love with Severus. There was **one** person in the group of people who attacked me, the one who planned everything, that knew the truth. He found out that Severus and I were dating, and used this knowledge to lure him into joining Voldemort's ranks."

"_Avery._" He supplied, nodding once. It was no secret that he had been highly rewarded by Voldemort when he took Severus to him. By then Severus was more than extremely talented at potions, and that kind of skill was something Voldemort desired with passion and always welcomed with open arms.

"The night of the attack," Juliana continued, "we were together. That's why I was alone at night. We used the Room of Requirement. One of us would go first, the other would follow about half an hour later. We had done this dozens of times already, I never thought something like that could happen." She said, rubbing her eyes with one hand. "We were always careful, but the potion I was drinking had to be taken _after._" She said, without needing to clarify what she meant. "I never made it to my room." She finished, hugging her daughter tightly and kissing the top of her head. The little girl smiled, oblivious to what was happening.

They were silent for a long time, Albus taking in everything she had said.

"How, I must ask, did Avery found about you? Do you know?" She sighed deeply.

"I didn't know at first, and I spent a long time searching through my memories for something we could have done that gave us away. I didn't find anything like that. But there was one thing I reckon was probably the cause." She took a deep breath. "Sirius Black knew about us." Dumbledore's face turned cold in a second at the sound of that name. "He had this map... I'm sure you know about it." Dumbledore nodded curtly. "We must have appeared together in it several times, because one night he followed us. I... _made _him promise to not say anything to anyone, and I'm sure he didn't. That wasn't how Avery found out." She kept quiet for a few minutes, trying to find the strength to speak. "I was coming back alone from Hogsmeade one day, not long before I was attacked. He was drunk. He tried to kiss me, but I refused." Dumbledore had a hard look on his face. "He said something about me and Severus being Hogwarts happiest couple. I don't remember it exactly... but he made clear that we were dating. I thought no one was around to hear him but... I couldn't be sure."

"Don't worry about Sirius Black, he will be paying for his crimes very soon." Albus said, his voice emotionless.

"What?" Juliana asked, confused.

"There is so much you don't know..." he began and she rolled her eyes.

"What happened to Severus? Is he alive?" She blurted out.

Dumbledore looked at her for a long time, and began telling her what had happened. When he was done talking, Cassandra had fallen asleep and Juliana was crying inconsolably.

"He told you? He **said** that he had told Voldemort about the prophecy?" She asked, sobbing.

"He made it quite clear, my dear." She shook her head, refusing to believe it.

"Something's not right." She said, frowning and looking down. "I need to see him. I need to talk to him, Albus. He needs to know about her." She said, looking at Cassie's sleeping form on the bed.

"I must ask you to wait, dear. Just until after the trials are done." She looked very unwilling to do this, but finally accepted. "I have to warn you, Juliana. He is not the man you remember. He has seen and done too many things to still have his soul intact. His spirit is... I dare not say irreparably but... gravely broken. The guilt of Lily's death is eating him alive." She started trembling as she began crying again. "You still love him?" He asked and she looked up, disbelief written on her features.

"Do you really need to ask?" She didn't speak for a while, trying to calm down. Once she recovered, she looked at him. "Are you going to help me?" He nodded.

"His trial will probably be done by the end of the month. I will keep in touch with you. I strongly advice that you move to Scotland for some time, or the communication will become more difficult. I can provide you a house if you need it." She shook her head.

"No, thank you. You've done enough for me already."

"Juliana... you surely understand I need to make sure none of what we talked about today leaves this room." She nodded. "We are not able to make and Unbreakable Vow without a third party, but I am aware that there is an ancient Brazilian oath we could be able to perform." She nodded again and stood up from her chair.

"You need to make a deep cut on the palm of both of our hands." She extended hers and he pointed his wand at her. There was no pain at all, and she was grateful. He did the same to his and she held it tightly on hers, their blood mixing together. She closed her eyes and a blue light filtered from the recesses of their fingers. "**On my blood I swear I shall not reveal any of the matters spoken on this conversation, or my life will be taken from me after I say the first word.**" After that the light was gone, along with the cuts on their hands.

"I'll send you an owl as soon as we're settled." She said, picking Cassandra up from the bed. Albus nodded and she left.

* * *

**Teresa appeared on chapter 10, as Juliana's 4 year old cousin who was in love with Severus.**

**Henry also appeared on chapter 10, as Juliana's aunt American husband.**


	21. Chapter 21

**It's been almost a week! Sorry!**

**Okay, I have slightly bad news for all the people who read this story.**

**I start college on monday, this means I won't have too much time to write chapters. HOWEVER I'm not leaving this story or anything, and I assure you I already have all important plot points of the remaining chapters written, meaning that I already know what's supposed to happen, I just need to write it.**

**So, I won't leave this story unfinished because I don't know how to keep going.**

** I won't leave this story unfinished, period. **

**I wanted to clarify that.**

**In other news, thanks to **_kytpu3426 _**for the follow and favorite! And thanks to **_readingaddict24 _**for reviewing again, and if you want to leave any kind of advice on how I could improve my chapters, it's more than welcome!**

* * *

"Mom, this is horrible." Cassandra said, her face scrunched up in displeasure.

"It's not horrible." Her mother replied, her head tilted to the side.

"It is horrible." Severus confirmed, moving to stand behind his wife.

In front of the three, a bright violet gown was hanging on Cassandra's bedroom door. It had two silver lines on the bottom, with the school emblem (a black cat's silhouette) embroidered on the right.

"Zip it, it's so bright I'm gonna go blind." Juliana rolled her eyes and closed the bag the gown was in.

"I could wear the bag instead." Cassandra suggested and her mother directed a cold look at her. "Okay, it was just a suggestion." Severus laughed quietly behind her.

"It's just a few hours, Cass." Juliana said, exiting the bedroom, Cassandra and Severus behind her. "You get to wear whatever you want underneath."

"Whatever I want?" She smiled mischievously. "I'll wear nothing, then." This time Severus looked at her coldly. "FINE! I'll stop with the suggestions!" She said, exasperated.

"What time is it, though? Fred and George are supposed to be here at noon." Cassandra asked, excitement on her voice. Severus looked at his watch.

"Noon." He replied and a second later they heard two loud thuds coming from the backyard, followed by a series of groans. "Right on time." He said as Cassandra ran to greet them.

"Be nice." Juliana warned him, kissing his cheek. He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer.

"I'm always nice." He replied, a smirk on his face, before kissing her deeply.

* * *

"Hey!" Cassie exclaimed as she walked to the twins, that were beginning to get up. They dusted themselves off and she hugged them at the same time.

"How are you preparing for the big day?" George teased. She huffed.

"Don't remind me. Wait till you see what I have to wear." She cringed. "Come inside, are you hungry? I haven't had lunch yet, maybe we can go somewhere and I can show you around!" She said, smiling.

She grabbed both of their hands and dragged them to the door. Once they entered, the imposing figure of Severus Snape, serious as always, greeted them. Granted, he was still dressed in dark clothing, but he was wearing a shirt with the sleeves rolled up and he had no robes that made him look like darkness itself was coming behind him.

Next to him, Juliana was standing with a smile. They contrast between both of them was so intense that Fred and George couldn't take their eyes away from the scene.

"Hello boys," Juliana said brightly and Severus merely nodded. "How have you been?"

"Fine, thank you." They both replied shyly.

"Don't bother to try and diffuse the tension mom. We're already leaving. I'll be right back." She said to the twins and started to walk to the stairs, but stopped mid-step and turned around. "You know what, better come with me." She said, looking at her father with suspicion. The twins let out relieved sighs and followed her upstairs.

"They're so scared of you!" Juliana said to Severus, laughing and scolding him at the same time.

"I didn't say anything." He retorted, crossing his arms.

"You don't have to! You have this whole dark, dangerous..." she said and her mind started to drift away "sexy demeanor... God, it's so hot in here." She said, flustered. He smiled and pulled her close.

"Sexy, huh?" He asked, smirking. She rolled her eyes but moved her arms to circle his waist. He leaned in until his lips were almost touching hers.

"The kids could catch us," she whispered, huskily.

"Thrilling, isn't it?" He asked in the same tone before closing the distance between them and kissing her thoroughly.

* * *

"What is this?" Fred asked, pointing at Cassandra's desk. "Looks like a telly."

"It's a computer." She answered as she put her sneakers on. "Um... it can be used as a way of communicating, you can search stuff..." She tried to explain simply. He just raised his eyebrows but didn't ask anything else.

"Hey, that's us!" George said with a smile, pointing at a framed picture on her wall. It had been taken the last time she had visited them. Cassie smiled and Fred moved to take a look at it. When he saw it, he smiled too. He then moved to her door, where the gown was carefully kept. He opened the zip and smiled.

"This is amazing!" He told her, laughing. George looked at it and raised his eyebrows before he started laughing too.

"It's not! It's horrible!" She yelled, mortified.

"This is one of the most beautiful pieces of clothing I've ever laid my eyes upon." Fred said, dramatically.

"Ha. Close it." She said and he did, a smile still on his face.

George moved now to her bookcase. He started touching the spines of the books, a frown on his face.

"Peter Pan..." He started to read out loud. "Frankenstein, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Dracula, Romeo and Juliet, J. R. R. Tolkien, no, wait, that was the author. Are all these muggle books?" He asked, looking at her. She nodded. "What are they about?" He asked, pulling her copy of Frankenstein and skimming through the pages.

"They all have a short summary on the back." She answered and he turned it around. He raised an eyebrow, interested.

"Can I borrow it?" He asked and she smiled, surprised.

"Sure. Take as many as you like. Okay, ready to go?" She asked, and they nodded.

"Where's Rocko?" George asked as they left the house by the front door.

"He was taking a nap on the living room just before you arrived, I guess he's still there." He looked disappointed. "You'll get to see him later. Now, follow me, I'm starving."

They made her way to a small dining room in the center of the town, while Cassandra told them stories about every place they walked by. Once they got there, she motioned them to go sit on a table and walked to the counter.

A girl about her age greeted her happily, and she leaned over the counter to say something on her ear. The girl's eyes widened instantly and she looked to where Fred and George were. She blushed when she saw they were looking too and averted her eyes immediately. Cassie laughed out loud and walked to the table.

"What did you say to her?" George asked, curious.

"Nothing important." She vaguely answered, a smile on her lips. She took one of the menus that were on the table and they did the same. "I'm just gonna have a hamburger and fries with a coke, don't know about you." She said without looking up.

"The same." They answered at the same time.

"Okay." She said as the girl from the counter approached them, a small notebook and pen on her hands, and her face completely red.

"Have you decided what are you going to eat?" She asked shyly.

"The usual. For the three." Cassandra answered. "This is Amy, guys." She introduced the girl, who blushed even more if that was possible. "She goes to school with me. Amy, These are Fred," she said pointing at the twin on the left, "and George."

"Pleased to meet you." They said at the same time.

"Oh my God, you really do the thing." She whispered, amazed, and Cassie bit her lip to control her laughter.

"Sorry?" George asked.

"Nothing." She said quickly. "I'll bring your orders soon." She said and left as fast as humanly possible without running.

"What are you laughing at?" Fred asked her with a frown. She put her palm on her cheek to avoid looking suspicious. Of course, it only made it worse.

"Laughing? Who's laughing?" She asked fast, resisting the urge with so much difficulty that her face now contorted in pain.

"What did you say to her?" They asked at the same time, their eyes narrowed.

By now she was covering her mouth with her hand and was shaking badly, her eyes burning with unshed tears. She tried to compose herself, but a smile was still etched on her face when she finally did.

"Today? I only told her you were Fred and George. Before that... well, that's another story." She said mischievously.

Amy returned with three plates and three drinks on a tray.

"Here you go." She said, placing the food in front of them. "Enjoy." She said with a smile and turned to leave, when a voice stopped.

"Hey, Amy..." George said, slowly. She turned with her eyes opened wide.

"Huh?" She managed to say, her voice high pitched.

"What has Cassie told you about us?" He asked, looking at her on the eyes. One more time, Amy blushed madly.

"Nothing." She answered way too fast. "I have to work,_ enjoyyourfoodbye_." She said and disappeared inside the kitchen.

"Look at you, you just spoke and she's already traumatized!" Fred said, teasing. He looked at Cassandra. "Really, why is she acting like that?"

Cassandra ate her burger calmly without giving them a response. They rolled their eyes and started eating too. Once she was finished, she finally spoke.

"Remember all those joke items I sent you for Christmas, and the book?" They nodded, failing to see what that had to do with anything. "Well, Amy's father is the owner of the shop where I got it from." They both opened their eyes and raised their eyebrows at this. "He opened it 20 years ago. Amy grew up there, and she developed an unconditional love for pranks and jokes. Just like her father. So, guess what. When I found out, I told her all about these friends I had that also loved pranking! She thought it was cool, but really didn't care too much at first. Until." She said and stopped talking.

"Until what!" They both yelled. She smiled.

"Well, her dad is a wizard but... he always felt more attracted to muggle pranks rather than wizard pranks. That's not her case. You know, she even travelled to Scotland five times only to visit Zonko's. She is obsessed with the making and building part of it." They leaned back, surprised at this new information. "So, she is pretty aware of all the news of the magical pranking business and stuff. Which means that the fact that this amazing new shop called _Weasley Wizard Wheezes_ opened in London didn't go unnoticed. So she comes to me, asking me the names of those friends I had that loved pranks. I wish you could've seen her face when I told her. It was so pale, you could've seen through it. So, I tell her: You know Amy, once they come and visit, I will introduce you to them. She didn't believe me. And then, today happened."

"Bloody hell." George said. "What you're trying to say is, she's a fan?" Cassandra nodded.

"Basically, yeah." Cassie rolled her eyes playfully at the smug expressions that appeared on their faces.

"Like you're surprised. You've seen how much people love your shop." She said.

"I mean, yeah..." George began. "But... it's not the same. They like the products, they don't put much thought on the people who made them or how they did... This is different... surprising. That's all." George replied, scratching the back of his neck thoughtfully.

"I suppose that makes sense." She reasoned with a nod. She turned her head back and laughed quietly. Amy was peering through the door, only her eyes visible. When she caught her eye, she disappeared. "She's so excited." She told them with a smile. Suddenly, her face brightened with a newfound idea. "Oh God, I know what we're doing next! We are going to her dad's shop! Her shifts ends in..." she looked at her watch "half an hour. She helps him when she gets out of here. Oh my God! She's gonna freak out."

"I don't know if you're doing this because you're nice or because you like to see the girl getting embarrassed." Fred teased with a smile. She made a face at him and then shrugged her shoulders.

"Bit of both."

* * *

A big sign that read **JACKSON'S JOKING EMPORIUM** was hanging above a large wooden door with glass windows.

Several products were displayed on the window, ranging from small prank items to elaborated costumes.

"Wow." The twins said at the same time.

"Is it open?" George asked, impatient. Cassandra pointed at a small poster on the glass. _Open every day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. _

"Come on." She said and opened the door, a bell similar to theirs signaling that it had been opened.

She shop was empty at the moment, something that would only happen on hours like this one. The twins marvelled at the enormity of the place, and amount of the things it had. Their minds were running wildly, creating, imagining, thinking of how this or that product could be transformed into something else.

They heard footsteps and a man about 50 years old appeared from the back of the shop, a box on his hands.

"Jack!" Cassandra greeted him and walked to hug him. "How've you been?"

"Everything's going great!" He answered cheerfully. His eyes landed on Fred and George and his his widened. "Are they...?" He asked and she nodded, excitedly. He walked to them and shook both of their hands with great enthusiasm. "I cannot believe it! Fred and George Weasley on **MY **shop!" He said, laughing. They just stood there, not knowing what to do. "I must take record this moment." He said seriously, clasping his hands. "Cassandra, would you take us a picture? If they don't mind, of course." He said to them. They shook their heads, still quiet.

Cassie was biting her lip to avoid laughing out loud. She picked up the camera from a shelf and motioned them to get together. Jack situated himself in the middle, a bright smile on his face. The twins were silent, their faces void of emotions.

"Smile a bit, will you?" She said, rolling her eyes. They snapped out of their trance and smiled, the picture coming out perfect.

"Ohhhh..." Jack said excitedly turning to look at them. "This one's going to the wall!"

"Um, sir..." Fred asked, frowning. "Not to sound rude or anything but... how do you know about us?"

"How do I..." He began to say, almost insulted. "How could I not! It's not everyday when two teenagers open one of the greatest joke shops in the world! And with original products, NO LESS! It is such an honour to have you both on my shop today." They were taken aback by his words, but quickly recomposed themselves.

"No, Sir, thank you. Your shop is absolutely amazing." George said, walking forward to keep looking. "When Cassie sent us those items and the book..." he frowned for a second. "Sorry, what was your name again?" He asked and Jack smirked.

"Jackson Jackson. I think it's a great name, don't you?" Cassandra answered for him, mirroring his smile.

"Jackson Jackson as in the writer of The Guide for The Practical Prankster?" Fred asked, his voice high pitched and his eyes opened wide. Jack bowed dramatically.

"The one and only." He answered and the twins opened and closed their mouths, not knowing what to say.

"That book..." George began.

"Has helped us so much while making products..." Fred followed.

"You don't know how important it has been for new inventions..."

"We never dreamed that we would be meeting the author..."

"Let alone having him praise our work!" Jack laughed. "We need to sit down." George said as they both slumped on a couch close to them.

Cassandra smiled and went to explore the shop, letting them talk about whatever they wanted alone. As she was testing a pair of glasses that had two eyes painted, a voice startled her.

"Cass, I didn't know you were here." Amy said, looking very nervous.

"Shit Amy, don't sneak up on me, I nearly died." She said and the girl offered an apologetic smile. She left the glasses where they belonged and faked interest in the things beside them. "Oh, I was just passing by and I thought Fred and George would like to see the shop..." Amy paled.

"They're here?" She asked with a whispered shriek and Cassie rolled her eyes.

"Yes, they're here. I don't know what makes you so nervous. They're super nice, I already told you." Amy looked around her and took her arm, leading her to a small room filled with boxes. She closed the door. "Umm... this is going a bit too far, don't you think?"

"Listen, Cassandra. When you admire someone so much it's easy to imagine them as being unreachable, because they are. I don't think you understand how deeply I love what they've done. It's _inspiring_. What they did tells me and everyone else out there who might think that they can't get what they want that if you pour your soul into something you love and you work hard enough, you can get it. They've done so much for me without even knowing it that I can't stand to be near them because it becomes unbearable. I don't know how to thank them without making them think that I'm completely crazy!" She finished, out of breath. Cassandra gaped at her in surprise.

"Holy fucking shit. I didn't know you felt that way, I'm sorry." She said, shaking her head. "But I promise, they are amazing. If you don't know them you can probably think that they're full of it, but they're not. They are actually humble, even if they don't act like it, and I strongly believe that they would receive your compliments with open arms. You just need to be calm about it, don't expect them to make you feel bad. If they see you're feeling uncomfortable, all they'll try to do is make you feel better." Amy breathed and nodded.

"Yeah... thank you Cass." She said before hugging her.

"Now let's get out of here before they think we were making out." Amy laughed and opened the door, only to find Fred and George with arms crossed waiting outside.

"What were you doing there?" Fred asked with an eyebrow raised. Both girls looked at each other before answering at the same time.

"Making out."

* * *

"I really don't want to do this." Cassandra said, looking at herself in the mirror.

Behind her, two faces looked at her. One belonged to Amy, the other to Steve.

"We'll all look the same, at least you won't stand out." Steve tried to reason. She huffed.

"Yeah... that actually helped. Thank you." She said and he smiled.

"Everyone is waiting downstairs for you so I think we should go. We'll see you there." Amy said giving her a thumbs up and Steve nodded, before they both apparated from her room.

She sighed and made her way downstairs, slowly.

"Kill me now please." She said as she appeared on her full purple glory. She could hear one or two stifled laughs, but most of them were silent.

"It looks great!" Fred and George said, bright smiles on their faces.

"That's not the world I'd use." She answered dryly.

"**You are the hottest girl in town, love. ****If I were a guy I'd be wanting to rip that sexy tunic out of you with my teeth.**" Rosa, her best friend from Brazil, said with a wink.

"**Shut it, Rosa. Or I will be ripping something of yours with my teeth and it won't be any clothing.**" Cassandra replied with a sneer.

"It's kinda irritating not knowing what they're saying, isn't it?" Fred whispered to George, who nodded.

"Don't forget I can understand every word you say, and I must add that this conversation is making me rather uncomfortable." Severus said appearing on the room, his voice and expression as stoic as ever. Rosa blushed and looked mortified.

"Sorry, Severus." She said with a smile and a very thick accent. He didn't answer but the corners of his lips curled up just a bit.

"Let's go and get this over with." Cassandra said. "Come on you two." She told Fred and George. "You're coming with me."

* * *

A big stage and dozens of chairs were prepared on the school grounds once they got there. Fred and George were amazed by the beauty of the building. There was no comparison point with Hogwarts, because they were so different. Hogwarts was a castle, with high ceilings and towers, whereas this building had no more than three floors, and no towers whatsoever. The walls were painted grey, and the grounds were perfectly kept.

Hogwarts was beautifully ancient, this was, for lack of a better word, modern. So, Cassandra had been right on her letters.

"So, what do you think?" She asked with a smile.

"It's amazing." They both said and she beamed.

"After we're done with this I'll give you a tour." They nodded and smiled. "Oh my God, there he is!" She said waving at someone on the group of students several feet away from them. "Come on!" she grabbed both of their hands and started dragging them along. "I can't wait to introduce you to Steve!" She said excitedly and George smirked at his twin, who frowned deeply.

"Bloody amazing." He whispered. Cassandra let go of their hands to walk ahead, leaving them alone while she looked for him.

"If you get just a little more jealous she's gonna notice." George teased.

"I'm not jealous." Fred snapped.

"No, you're not. He's just her friend, mate. And _he likes men_. That should be enough for you to back off a bit."

"That's not..." Fred began to say but closed his mouth, his lips forming a thin line. _What's the point of lying, he knows already. _"It's always Steve this, Steve that, _ohh, Steve is so amazing! Steve is so funny!_" He finished with a lame girly voice. George laughed out loud.

"You're scared that she values their friendship more than yours." He said with a roll of his eyes. "You know she loves you, alright? I don't think she loves him more than she loves you." Fred sighed.

"Yeah, thanks." He said, rubbing her eyes. Cassandra appeared again from the crowd, hand in hand with a boy.

_Fuck. _Fred thought_. _On his mind, he had built an entire human being based on his dislike towards the boy, and he was taken aback by how different he was in real life. Of course he wasn't expecting him to be like he had thought but maybe...

No. He was... perfect. Absolutely perfect. When people said "every girls' dream" they should know that they were talking about this guy.

Tall, athletic, deep blue eyes and brown messy hair. Perfect smile. He was sure that if he found a flaw on him, he'd have to get some sort of prize.

His blood boiled. _How could she not like him? How could she not fall in love with him? The fact that he's gay does not affect **her** feelings towards men. I should've known. _

Cassandra's face was lit up with a wide smile.

"Guys..." she said, barely containing the excitement on her voice. "This is Steve. Steve, Fred and George." Steve smiled brightly and Fred wanted to punch him square in the face.

"How you doing, mate?" George asked nicely, shaking his hand.

"I've heard so much about you, I can't believe I'm finally meeting you." He said with a deep voice. _What have I done to deserve this? _Fred thought. He swallowed his pride and gave him a smile, shaking his hand too. "This is amazing. really. She told me all about you." He looked like he was struggling with his words. "I just... I think it's amazing what you've done, you're so young, it's... encouraging." He scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, I must be making you feel uncomfortable. I'll shut up now." He finished with a laugh.

_Stop being nice. Stop being nice. Be a dick, you'd make this so much easier. _Fred's mind complained. _I can't do this._

"Nah, don't worry." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "She told us all about you as well. It's amazing to finally meet the famous Steve." Steve blushed and Cassandra poked his side.

"Told ya." She said to him and hugged his middle. Fred resisted the urge to frown. "Come on, I'll tell you were you're sitting." She said and started walking. They followed her to a row of seats where Rosa was sitting next to Juliana, waving happily.

"I thought your dad was coming?" George asked, confused.

"Oh, he's there." She said pointing next to her mother. "Perception spell." She whispered. He looked again and saw that he indeed was there, sitting with an indifferent expression on his face. "Go, we have to get ready." She said, pushing them forward.

Fred sat beside Rosa, who had a big camera on her hands and was shaking from happiness.

"Oh, I'm so excited." She told him and he was barely able to make out her words. "Aren't you? Look at her, she looks so nice there." She said as she took a picture.

"Yeah, she does." He answered absent-mindedly. "Why is she up there, though? The others are sitting there." He asked, pointing to the front rows.

"They are... um... acknowledging her? Is that the word? Because she is a foreign student and she had... high grades on her exams." His mouth formed an _o _and he nodded.

"And what is... Steve doing there?" He asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"He's the valedictorian." At Fred's confused expression, Rosa elaborated. "He's the one making the... goodbye speech, the best student."

"Oh." He said crossing his arms, sullenly. Rosa didn't notice because she was too busy taking pictures.

* * *

Cassandra walked to them, diploma on her hand and gown open on the front, and hugged Severus tightly. She buried her face on his chest and he whispered words on her ear. No one knew what he was saying, but she was nodding.

Juliana was next, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"Mom, don't cry." She said and hugged her.

"I'm just so proud of you." She said with a happy sob and Cassandra laughed.

Rosa was next, and practically jumped on her to give her a hug. She kissed her cheek loudly and spoke too fast to anyone apart from Cassandra and Juliana to understand.

And finally, Fred and George. She walked to them, smiling awkwardly and they both enveloped her in a tight embrace.

"Look at you," George began.

"All grown up." Fred finished. She laughed.

"We're proud. You did great." They said at the same time.

"Thank you guys." She said as they pulled apart. She took her gown out completely. "Why don't I give you a school tour now?" She asked and they nodded. "Okay." She turned to her parents. They nodded.

"We're going to go home, we'll wait for you there." She smiled and they started to walk towards the school entrance.

"Okay, let's go." She said but stopped when she saw the gown on her hands. "Wait, I'll give this to my mom. Be right back." Fred, George and Rosa nodded and watched her run to where her parents were. Her mother took the violet clothing from her hands with a smile, and when she was about to leave, they all saw her father grimacing in pain, his hand going instinctively to cover his left forearm.

"No." Rosa said, her cheery voice now lost and replaced by a dark tone.

They looked at Cassandra and Juliana, their faces white, while Cassandra was shaking her head madly, and was starting to cry. Severus kissed Juliana briefly and hugged his daughter for a few seconds giving her a fast kiss on the forehead, before releasing himself from her arms and disapparating on the spot.

Cassandra's arm was extended, as if she was still trying to stop him from leaving, frozen on the spot. They could see her shaking badly, her mother trying to comfort her. Rosa ran fast to where she was and enveloped her in a hug, talking into her ear and caressing her hair while she cried.

The twins were still too shocked to even try to move.

Until that moment, deep inside they hadn't truly believed in Snape, and what he was doing for the Order. It wasn't hard to doubt him, always so stern and angry, looking like he would rather be killing something instead of being there.

But no. It wasn't like that, and experiencing it first hand was something they didn't want to repeat ever again.

They feet moved to their own accord, directly to where she was. Juliana saw them coming first, and recomposed herself before talking.

"I think we should go." She said sternly. They both nodded. "You'll come with me, Rosa you take Cassandra. She's in no state for travelling by herself." Rosa nodded and vanished. "Come on." She said extending her hands to the twins, who took them without hesitating.

* * *

"She's feeling a bit better now." Juliana said tiredly as she came down the stairs. The twins were sitting on the couch, fidgeting.

"Can we see her?" Fred asked, worried.

"I don't think that's the best idea. She's not used to you both being here when this happens... I don't think she can take you seeing her on that state. Rosa is with her now. It's getting late, maybe you should just go home." She said, slumping on a chair.

"No way, we're staying." George said and they heard a knock on the door. Juliana got up to open it, and Steve's panicked face appeared on the doorway.

"I'm so sorry I didn't come sooner," he sad quickly, getting inside without permission. "I couldn't leave without my family asking where the hell I was going. Is she on her room?" Juliana nodded and he ran upstairs.

"I'm sorry," Fred said standing up, anger clear on his voice. "But how come **_he _**gets to see her and we don't? And he knows?" He was nearly screaming by now. George grabbed his arm and forced him to sit down again.

"Calm down." He said dangerously. "It's not the time or the place for doing this. Show some respect."

Juliana sighed again, rubbing her eyes, and sat on the table in front of them. Fred had his arms crossed, stubbornly.

"Fred, look. I'm sorry. I know you think you've seen her at her worst, because I know she has cried with you." She said, her tone sweet and soft. "But you haven't. We don't know when he will be coming back. Or in _what state _he will be in. From the times he leaves until he returns, it's _agony _for us. I apologize in advance, but I don't think you are able to take it yet. And Steve... well, he's been with her on this for months now. She told him everything after New Year. He's great for her." Fred clenched his jaw.

"He's gay." He blurted out and George hit him on the back of his had roughly. Juliana narrowed her eyes.

"I am aware of that, I didn't say they should get married, I said he's great for her. And he is. So are you. But I know you're not ready for facing this. You will be eventually but... not now." Fred relaxed.

"I'm sorry. I was an idiot." He said and Juliana shrugged.

"Don't worry." She said looking at her watch. "You were supposed to be back an hour ago."

"We're not..." Fred began but George interrupted him.

"Yes, we were. We should get going. Can you tell her that we hope everything works out well? And please make sure she sends a letter. We can find a way... maybe someone can travel or..." Juliana cut him off with a sad smile.

"Don't worry. I'll tell her. Tonks will be coming soon, so that's settled. I'll make sure she writes you." They smiled and nodded.

"I really hope everything works out well." George said to her as they walked to their backyard.

"Thank you, kids. You're really good. I'm glad Cassandra has you." Juliana said, her voice on the verge of breaking. "Be safe." She said as a small stone floated in front of them. They nodded and disappeared the moment their fingers made contact with it.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey ya'll, I wanted to thank **_mysticalmadison, Madlenita, Sailormoonfan227, alaskanwoman25, charlottedean98 _**and **_anime'sguest _**for the follows and favorites!**

**Also, extra special virtual hugs to **_readingaddict24_** and **_Madlenita_** for reviewing!**

**So, I told you I was getting busy because of college, which I did and I'm practically on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and it has only been ONE WEEK. Man, I'm screwed.**

**Anyway, I'll try to update at least once a week now. I hope you don't wanna bite my head off for making you wait.**

* * *

Severus was drowning in his self loathing.

He had faced the Wizengamot a week earlier, and he had got cleared of his crimes, thanks to Dumbledore. That seemed nice if you put it that way, but now both sides hated him. Death Eaters and Voldemort supporters because of his betrayal, and Dumbledore followers because of his Death Eater status. There was only one person who knew the truth, and that made him feel incredibly lonely. So lonely, in fact, that it was starting to become unbearable.

He looked at the empty bottle of firewhiskey in front of him, disgust clear on his face. His hand went instinctively to his neck, pulling out the locket he always had on him.

_I miss you. I wish you were here with me._

_I need you._

He was suddenly so angry at himself that he reached for the bottle and threw it to a wall, smashing it into hundreds of little pieces.

_If you'd see me now what would you think of me? Barely a reminiscence of the man you once loved. I'm sorry, Juliana._

_I'll try for you._

_I'll be better for you. _

_I'll help the boy for you._

* * *

An hour later, Severus was showered, shaved and freshly dressed.

The self loathing was still there, untouched, but now at least now it wasn't in plain sight for the rest of the world to see.

Dumbledore had offered a job at Hogwarts, to keep him safe. That was the last thing he wanted to do, but he really didn't have any other options. He had told him he was going to think about it, but there was not much he had to consider, he had already decided he was going to say yes.

So, when an owl delivered a letter from the Headmaster asking him to go to Hogwarts to talk, he didn't think anything else apart from the man wanting a response to his offer.

_Use the floo, _the letter instructed.

He put his coat on and after muttering _Albus Dumbledore's Office _disappeared in a gush of bright green flames. Once he walked out of the fireplace, he began to dust himself off.

"Albus?" He asked, not seeing the headmaster anywhere. He heard sharp intake of breath and turned briskly to the source of the noise, his wand ready.

However, it fell from his hand to the floor when he saw the person sitting on one of the couches.

He was frozen on the spot.

_Are you real this time?_

Juliana was crying silently, not being able to move either.

"Severus." She whispered, her voice breaking, and the sound of her voice was enough for him to fall to his knees.

She walked to where he was and kneeled with him, not daring to touch him.

"Juliana?" He asked, tears of his own gathering on his eyes.

"Yes, love. It's me." She said, smiling sadly.

"How...?" He managed to ask.

"I asked Albus for help. When I found out Voldemort was gone..." she began to say and that felt like a slap in the face to him. He came back to his senses quickly, standing up.

_Voldemort. All I've done. Lily. Monster. Monster._

He turned away from her, but stood still when he felt her warm hand on his. She forced him to face her, but he couldn't meet her eyes.

"I've done terrible things, terrible, terrible..." he said, his voice hoarse. "Why did you come back? Why? I'm not good for you, my soul... my soul... it's just darkness." He finally looked at her. "Why?" He whispered.

"Because I love you." She said before closing the distance between them and pressing her mouth to his.

Severus mind was lost in the pure bliss he was feeling at the moment. His tongue brushed her lips and she opened them, gladly. Her hands went to tangle in his hair, pulling him as close to her as humanly possible, and his went to her hips, the sides of her shirt trapped tightly on his fists. Soon his arms enveloped her completely, their bodies melting into one.

When they pulled away, their foreheads were touching, their breathing was labored, and their eyes were closed.

"Do you still love me?" She asked, panting.

"Of course." He answered, giving her a quick kiss. "I never stopped. I love you, I love you, I love you." He said, kissing her deeply again.

"Severus." She said, breaking the kiss. "There is actually another reason why I'm here." She said and he paled, panic overcoming him. "Don't be scared." She said, her hand going to his hair, and he closed his eyes, moaning in pleasure. "Come." She said, taking his hand and leading him to another couch.

"What is-" He began to say but his voice was lost the moment he saw what- well... _who_ was on it.

A girl. A baby girl. She could be no more than three years old, probably younger. He gasped and the sleeping form of the kid stirred.

A small whimper left her mouth before her eyelids began to open.

When her eyes made contact with his, the rest of the world was lost to him.

_Those eyes... Could she be...?_

His thinking was interrupted by the little girl's cry of happiness, as a wide smile began to form on her round face.

"Daddy!" She screamed, raising her small arms to him, pleading to be picked up.

"Severus, this is Cassandra. Our daughter."

He was speechless. The little girl had her arms up still, her little hands moving wildly. He slowly made his way to her, his face, for the first time in years, an open display of the emotions he was feeling.

He kneeled in front of her and she put her little hand on his cheek. Severus gasped and closed his eyes, covering her hand with his. Seeing that he was not going to pick her up, Cassandra sat up on her own and threw herself at him, forcing him to hold her in his harms.

"Daddy." She said again, her head moving to rest on his shoulder.

Severus hugged her tightly to him, and she started playing with his hair. "**Long hair, Mommy's hair.**" She whispered and he turned to Juliana.

"What did she say?" He asked as she smiled.

"That your hair is long, like mine." He smiled too, and turned to see that she had fallen asleep on his arms.

"She does that." Juliana said with a laugh. He moved to sit on the couch, Cassie still on his arms. He stroked her hair, absolutely mesmerized.

"How did this happen? How does she know who I am?" He asked quietly, not wanting to wake her up.

Juliana sighed.

"It was the night of the attack." Severus face contorted in pain, as if he was being tortured. "Don't worry love, don't be upset." She said, huddling closer to him and moving his hand to his hair, massaging his scalp just like she knew he loved. She kissed his neck and he visibly relaxed. "I never made it to the room to drink the potion." He sighed, understanding filling his mind. "And she knows who you are because I made sure she did." He turned his face to her and kissed her shortly.

"When was she born?" He asked and she sighed.

"October 31st, 1978. She was premature." He paled and swallowed.

"What?" He managed to say, his eyes filling with tears once again.

"I'm sorry love, I know what happened last month, but it's not my fault, and it's not hers for being born..." she rambled but was cut short when she felt the feeling of his warm lips on hers.

"Please don't apologize." He said, his eyes closed. "You have nothing to be sorry for. It was _my fault._" He said, his jaw clenched.

"Severus, tell me what happened." She pleaded slowly, intertwining their fingers together.

"Not in front of her." He replied lowly, kissing Cassie's hair. He placed her on the couch and conjured a warm blanket for her.

They walked to Dumbledore's desk, sitting in the two chairs in front of it.

He was silent for a few minutes, trying to gather the courage to tell her what had happened. She took his hands in hers, giving them a reassuring squeeze. He looked at her lovingly, before giving her a small kiss. After that, he began talking.

"About year ago, after I joined _his_ ranks, I was living in a room in the Hog's Head. It was dirty and cheap, but I didn't want anything else. One night I was drinking a glass of firewhiskey when Dumbledore came with a woman. I didn't pay them much attention. But when I made my way to my room, I was surprised by a voice coming from the room they were in. I listened to something. It was a prophecy, but I barely heard the beginning before the owner kicked me out." He sighed. "Minutes later I was called by the Dark Lord. It was an report meeting. They were very regular, he summoned us to ask what kind of useful information we could have for him. I..." He began to say and his voice broke. She stood up from her chair and moved to sit on his lap. He sighed and hugged her tightly, burying his face on her hair.

"Take all the time you need, love." She said softly as she caressed his hair.

"The Dark Lord he... he always used Legilimency. I had started to study Occlumency and it had been enough to protect my memories of you and Lily but...it was still on its early stages. When he called me I was barely able to concentrate enough to send those memories to the back of my mind. And as a result, the last thing that had happened came right to the front. That was the prophecy I heard." He rubbed his eyes with a trembling hand and she kissed his neck, helping him calm down. "I didn't know who it referred to. All I knew was that it meant that he was going to be defeated and the moment I heard it I **knew** I had to protect that secret but... I know it's no excuse, believe me, but I didn't have enough time to do it and he saw it, thinking I showed it to him willingly, and then he found out it was Lily's child, and I tried to do all I could to save her but in the end... in the end-" He was crying by now and she cut him off with a kiss. They both poured their souls into it.

"It wasn't your fault, Severus." She said, her voice hoarse. He didn't answer but she knew he didn't believe that.

"I missed you so much." He whispered brokenly against her lips. "I love you. I need you." He said before kissing her deeply one more time.

"You don't know how much I missed you, every day. Every night dreaming of you, of being together again..." She said between kisses.

He felt something he hadn't felt in quite some time and decided that this wasn't the time or place to do anything rushed.

"We can't do this here, love." He said and she nodded.

"You're right." She said and moved from her lap to the chair she used before. "Where are you living?" She asked, her fingers playing with his.

"In my childhood home." She grimaced at the thought of him being on that horrid place filled with such terrible memories.

"Live with us. I have a house, in Brazil. Come with us." He stared at her, hopefully.

"Like... a family?" She nodded, smiling. He was silent for a few seconds. "Okay, but first..." He began to say and she looked at him, puzzled.

"What?" She asked and he took both of her hands on his.

"Will you marry me?"

Her voice betrayed her when she tried to answer, so she just managed to nod wildly, her face soaked with tears, a wide smile on her mouth. Before he could react, she launched herself into his arms and kissed him thoroughly.

* * *

**O k a y. I hope no one is annoyed at the fact that all happened rather quickly and that Severus is out of character, because I couldn't picture it happening any other way. **


	23. Chapter 23

**Hm. I think by now you've noticed that your scrollbar is probably very tiny. That's because this chapter is almost 13k words. **

**Yay for my consistence in chapters lenght!**

**...n****o? Ok.**

**So... I've been writing this for hell knows how long, I just know it's been weeks. So, bear down with me if I don't update again for a little while, because this one drained me pretty bad.**

**Oh, I wanted to say that in the end things get a little heated up, but nothing's explicit. However, if you think I should change the rating of this story (_I_ don't think I should but whatever, things are implied) please let me know. ****Also, in the end it gets fluffy as hell. Just so you know.**

**On a happier note, thanks to **_taintedredrose3, newgirl5, storycat12, CustardMelons, Missyick, akatsukiwerewolf9 _**and**_ Midnight's Eyes _**for the follows and favorites! **

**And obviously, all my loving to **_readingaddict24, mysticalmadison_** and **_Midnight's Eyes _**especially for your lovely reviews!**

* * *

"Tonks." Fred gasped as he saw her entering the shop. Her hair was dull and brown, clearly showing that she was upset. They were about to close, so there were only a handful of people waiting for their purchases to be cashed.

She smiled weakly at him, looking around while she waited for everyone to leave. Once they did and they closed the doors and windows, she finally spoke.

"Do you have somewhere more private?" She asked and he nodded.

"The flat upstairs. George is already there." He said, leading her to the staircase. They walked together awkwardly, an uncomfortable silence enveloping them.

Once they reached the door, he opened for her and she walked inside. She sat in the couch, her whole appearance looking dejected. She rubbed her forehead and bit her lip, not knowing how to start. George appeared on the room shortly after, looking at his twin worriedly.

"Just... better sit down." Tonks said, motioning to the chairs close to her. They did as told, all without saying a word.

"Is she okay?" Fred asked, his brow furrowed in deep concern. "Her last letter was so vague, she didn't say anything about-"

"No. She's not okay." The twins opened their eyes wide, immediately thinking the worst. "She's not dead. Or harmed." She elaborated. "But... something bad is going to happen soon. You Know Who assigned Petter Pettigrew as Severus assistant, and they'll both be living together on his childhood home. We think it's mostly because he doesn't fully trust him yet but... this means she won't see him this summer more than once or twice. It was a hard blow, both for her and Juliana." Fred and George sighed, burying their faces on their hands. "They will be leaving Salem for the summer. They will go to Juliana's mother house on Brazil. She wanted me to tell you that she told you that she was going to take you to America, and even if she might not be able to do that, she still wants to spend time with you. Here." She said taking a small transparent box with a stone from her pocket. "That's a portkey that will take you there whenever you touch it, and will transport you back to the place you left when you touch it again. It can be used as many times as you want. Courtesy of her mother." George took the box from her hands and looked at it, amazed.

"Wow, this is amazing." He breathed.

"It is. Now, if you excuse me, I have to go. They will be on Brazil in two days so I advice you to go after that, if you do it." They nodded and Fred walked her to the door.

* * *

Cassandra was looking out the window, her mind somewhere else far, far away, when Juliana entered the room.

"Steve called." She said as she walked to her daughter. "He will be getting here this afternoon." Cassandra just nodded, barely hearing her voice.

"It will be okay, Cass." She said as she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"What if it's not?" She asked, turning to look at her with no emotion on her face. "What if it just gets so bad that he can't take it anymore?"

"Your father is not a man known for not being able to take the worst, Cassandra." She nodded and her bottom lip trembled.

"Why does it have to be like this?" She asked, tears finally falling, hugging her mother's waist. Juliana stroked her hair softly, soothing her anxiety.

"It won't last much longer, dear. Things will get better." She said but neither of them believed it.

* * *

Cassandra was half asleep when she felt a heavy weight fall on top of her. She opened her eyes only to see Steve's smiling face. He kissed her cheek loudly and she smiled.

"How are you feeling, love?" He said, moving to lay beside her.

"Like shit." She answered plainly. "How long are you staying?"

"As much as you want me to." He answered, hugging her tightly.

"All summer then?" She said, her voice muffled by his chest.

"Yes. All summer." He then sighed and waited a few moments after speaking again. "Have they visited yet?"

"No, but it's understandable. They do have a shop to attend, you know. They can't just leave everything." She reasoned.

"You haven't told him yet, have you?" He asked and she scoffed.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about you being in love with Fred. Does that make you remember?" She hit him softly on his arm and

he laughed.

"Stop it. I won't tell him, things are too fucked up to think about that." Steve sighed loudly.

"Things are never fucked up enough to not allow yourself to love." She whined.

"Don't say stuff like that, I'm going to cry."

"Sorry, babe." He said with a smile.

* * *

Juliana woke up at 7 a.m. the next day with an incredible need to drink water. Steve was sleeping soundly next to her, so she made sure she didn't wake him up.

She made her way downstairs groggily, making sure not to fall. She reached the kitchen in no time, and opened the fridge to pour herself a glass. She was drinking it when she heard two loud_ thuds_ coming from the backyard that made her wake up completely. She left the glass on the table and walked to the window to see what had happened. She slowly moved the curtain to peek out, when her eye catched a tangled mass of limbs and red hair. She gasped and opened the door quickly.

"Cassie!" They both said and stood up quickly. She ran to their open arms and embraced them. When they pulled away, Fred examined her with a frown.

"Why do you look like you just woke up?" He asked, confused.

"Because I just did! It's 7 a.m. for Christ sake!"

"No, it's 10 a.m." George said, shoving his watch on her face. "See, it's 10 a.m..." he said before he blushed. "In London. Merlin, we completely forgot about it."

"It doesn't matter." She said, waving them off. "Come inside. I'm sure no one but my grandma is awake but..." she said before walking inside. True to her word, Isabel was in the kitchen, getting breakfast ready.

"I saw you and your friends outside and I figured you weren't going to go to bed again." She said, her accent noticeable but her voice calm and soft. Cassandra smiled wide and hugged her.

"God, you're the best." She turned to Fred and George. "You're staying more than just today, right?" She asked and they nodded. "Good. Come on, I'll show you your room."

"You don't mind, right? Umm... Miss?" Fred asked Isabel awkwardly. She laughed.

"Of course not, darling. And call me Isabel." He smiled and moved to follow Cassandra.

"Over here." He heard Cassandra say from upstairs.

"Your grandmother is really nice." He said once he entered the room. It wasn't too big, but it had two single beds, dresser and an amazing balcony.

"Wow, the view here is amazing." George said as he went out. "This house is so big, does she live alone here?"

"Yeah, but when my mom was my age her cousins used to visit a lot. So she always had to have room for them. There are two bedrooms if you don't count my grandmother's and my mom's, which is where Steve and I are sleeping." At that, Fred turned his head so quickly his neck hurt.

"Steve? You're sleeping with Steve? Steve is here?" He asked, his voice strained.

"Steve is here." They heard a casual voice say from the hallway, Steve's form passing in front of the door frame. The sound of his footsteps disappeared as he went downstairs. Cassie pointed at the door and nodded.

"Steve is here. He arrived yesterday." She replied calmly and he looked affronted.

"And you're sleeping with him." She frowned.

"Jesus, you're making it sound like we're having sex or something. We're just sleeping, we've done it many times before." She replied, taken aback by his tone. "We can switch rooms if you like, he's said that you're hot more than once."

"True, I'd be willing to sleep with either of you instead of Cass." Steve said with a wink as he passed in front of the door again. George bit his lip to restrain his laughter at Fred's astonished face.

"No, we're good." He replied, slightly breathless.

* * *

"You really need to control your jealousy." George said as he placed himself beside his brother.

They were on the beach, sitting on the sand under a tree that protected them from the burning heat of the sun. Steve and Cassandra were playing on the water, a few feet away from them.

"I'm not jealous." Fred answered dryly. He was wearing black sunglasses that mostly hid his frown, but if you were close enough you could still see it.

"Fred, I'm serious. You're gonna end up making her upset. What are you going to do, huh? Forbid her to have male friends because you are scared she might end up liking them more than she could like you?" Fred clenched his jaw but didn't answer. "Get a grip. She doesn't like him like that, it's plain to see." He finished, annoyed.

"How do you know that?"

"Because she's too comfortable around him. They sleep together for Merlin's sake. She doesn't feel attracted to him, and **you know** he's doesn't feel attracted to her. It's bloody obvious." Fred kept quiet one more time, but George's words were helpful.

"Merlin." Fred whispered as Cassandra emerged from the water and started walking to them, Steve behind her.

The twins had finally woken up after noon, only to discover that they had both gone swimming. So, once they got there, they hadn't got the chance to see them up close.

Until now, of course.

Fred's breath was completely taken from his lungs one he saw what she was wearing: a white bikini that contrasted perfectly with her naturally light brown skin, now very tanned.

From seeing her and her mother together, it wasn't hard to notice that their body shape was almost identical. You could even see that Isabel's body, now considerably aged, was where she got it from. So, basically, the amazingly well-built curves were something that swam on the gene pool of the family.

Fred, a nineteen year old teenager, was thinking this was the most beautiful body he had ever laid his eyes upon.

"Aren't you going to swim?" She asked with a smile as she picked a towel from the floor, wrapping herself with it and subsequently ending his almost drool-inducing trance. Fred blinked fast a few times before answering.

"Actually, we were just going to do that weren't we George?" He asked to his twin who looked confuse for a second before nodding.

"Yep, we are going now." He said, both getting up from the floor. They took their shirts off and walked away fast.

"Damn." Steve said under his breath as he eyed them up, only to hear a low shriek from his side, followed by nails digging into his wrist. He looked at Cassandra, who had her eyes practically glued to the two boys. She was clearly holding her breath, and on a closer inspection, he saw her pupils were very dilated.

"You are so turned on, oh my God!" He said with a laugh, which earned a glare from her.

"Their bodies are carved like fucking Olympian Gods!" She squealed desperately.

"I can't argue that." He replied. "Let's just sit and act casual, and please remove your hand, I think I'm bleeding." She sobered up immediately and retreated her hand quickly.

"I'm so sorry!" She cried out, mortified.

"Nah, it's okay." He waved off.

"What am I going to do?" Cassandra asked after a while, leaning her head on Steve's shoulder.

"With what?" He teased and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay, okay." He said raising his hands in surrender. "Why don't you wanna tell him?"

"Because it will ruin the friendship. And we just started it! Everything would be awkward after it."

"Cass. Baby. Darling. Honey." She rolled her eyes. "Have you thought about the possibility that he might, I don't know, _like you back? _And that what you could have after that would be even better than friendship?" She frowned and looked at him like he was crazy.

"Steve! He doesn't like me back! I would've noticed _something. _He never even said or did anything that could lead me on." _Sure, never. _He thought with a roll of his eyes, deciding this was pretty much a lost cause.

"Yeah, whatever you say."

* * *

"Do you really have to go?" Cassandra's muffled voice said against George's chest.

"We do have a shop to take care of, love." He said softly as he hugged her. She made an incomprehensible complaining sound and pulled away.

"I promised I was going to take you to America." She said sadly, looking down.

"Next time." He assured her, kissing her forehead. Shortly after Fred came down the stairs, their things floating behind him.

"When are you going to be back?" Cassandra asked as she moved to hug Fred as tightly as she was hugging his twin just seconds before. Fred bit back a whimper as he felt her pressed tightly against him, holding her close and burying his head on her shoulder.

"We'll be with you for your birthday, that's for sure. We'll try to visit you again sooner, but we don't know if we will be able to. Are you going back to Salem at some point?" She shook her head, still hugging him. After a few seconds, she pulled away.

"We're not going back again. We have work to do here." They frowned.

"What work?" Their voices asked at the same time.

"Recruiting for the Order. Much like Charlie. We just expect to have better results." They nodded and she led them to the backyard.

"Be careful, yeah?" Fred said, pulling her into his arms one last time, kissing her temple.

"I will."

And with one last glance, they were gone.

* * *

It was a week after Steve had gone back to America when Severus came. There were no smiles to give, no happiness to feel.

Dumbledore had asked him the last sacrifice. Before the year ended, Severus had to kill him. Cassandra hugged him tightly before locking herself up on her room, leaving her parents alone.

She didn't come out for days.

* * *

She stopped talking for some time. She didn't write letters to anyone, and she wasn't eating well. She was skinny to the point of starting to look unhealthy, and she had constant dark circles under her eyes.

Juliana was the same.

* * *

No one knew what was happening. No one could know what was happening. Steve couldn't visit because he was immersed in college, and like Fred and George, thought she was busy herself.

_She was going to help her mother recruit wizards and witches._

But they just couldn't, **not yet**. The wound was still too fresh, the pain too noticeable.

And who could blame them?

* * *

The holidays were long gone, and October was just around the corner.

Severus visits were even more sporadic now that school had started again. He got the position he always wanted, but he wasn't surprised by the fact he didn't even care about it anymore.

They valued every visit like it was going to be the last.

* * *

The day they decided that they needed to regain control of their lives and start doing something for the sake of the cause they were fighting against was October 1st.

They left Rio the next day, and they didn't come back until two weeks after that.

* * *

On October 31st Cassandra didn't sleep at all. She spent the first hours of her birthday looking at the ceiling of her room, her eyes wide open. When the first morning light came through her window, she sighed and got up from the bed.

On her way to the bathroom she stopped to look at herself in the mirror on her dresser. She ran one finger through her recently acquired scar slowly and gently. It was the result of a meeting that had gone wrong... at first. The people that they were looking for had apparently been visited shortly before by a group of masked wizards that didn't precisely belong to the _good_ side. They had tried to take them by force, but these people were stronger than they got credit for. They mistook the girls for two of _his _followers_, _and attacked without letting them speak. The result was a permanent mark on Juliana's right shoulder, and a now fading scar that started under Cassandra's chin and ended under her breasts.

But once they listened to them and discovered that they weren't Death Eaters, they accepted to join them without a question.

Cassandra walked to the bathroom with no emotions displayed on her face. She washed her face and brushed her teeth without even stopping to look at her reflection.

When she walked into the kitchen, she saw her mother sipping a cup of what she guessed was coffee.

"You didn't sleep. Again." Juliana said without looking up. Cassandra walked to sit beside her and shook her head, grabbing a toast from the plate before her. "You will start taking potions, Cassie. That's final." She sighed but didn't argue. She had refused to do it for months now because she knew they were addictive, and she was hoping she would be able to regain her regular sleep habits by herself. But that didn't happen. Instead, she was only able to fall asleep for a few hours when she was so tired that her body shut itself out without her control.

"They are coming today. They are going to notice that something's wrong." She said after swallowing the piece of toast she had been chewing for too long.

"By _they_ you mean...?"

"Rosa. Steve. George." She paused and sighed. "Fred." She rubbed her eyes. "You can hide your wound with clothes on but I can't hide this. Like, I can't wear a scarf until it fades completely. They'll now, and I'm gonna be fucked. I don't want them to worry."

"And?" Her mother asked slowly, which earned her another long sigh from her daughter.

"What are we going to do? When _it _happens? They'll think..." she began to say but her voice broke and Juliana shushed her.

"Don't worry about that now. It's your birthday, at least try to enjoy it. You will be seeing your friends!" She said cheerily as she got up from the chair. "You haven't seen them in months. I know you miss them, and turning eighteen is a good reason to celebrate. Your friends, the people you love, will be here for you." She moved to the sink to wash the cup she just used when Cassandra's words made her stop.

"_He isn't._" She replied dryly. Juliana closed her eyes tightly and waited a few seconds before speaking again.

"I know, Cass. I'm really sorry about that."

"Me too." She said, emotionless, before getting up and going to her bedroom again.

* * *

The first one to arrive was Rosa. It took her less than one second to notice something was wrong. It took her two to notice the scar.

"**Just wait until the others arrive. I'll just explain it all once.**" Was the answer Cassandra gave her when she asked what had happened. Rosa wasn't too happy at this but accepted.

The next to arrive, twenty minutes later, was Steve. He got a very similar answer.

Half an hour later, the twins arrived and hell broke loose.

* * *

Cassandra was sitting on the couch, her expression neutral and her arms crossed, while the twins bombarded her with a thousand questions.

_How could this happen? Will it be permanent? What happened to your mother? Why didn't you tell us? How could you not tell us!?_

"Are you done?" She asked after a while, her voice calm.

"No!" They both shouted but then took a deep breath. "Yes." They said and sat down on a couch, breathing heavily. Rosa was chewing her fingernails but wasn't going to pressure her into talking, because she knew better. Steve was looking at his trembling hands, trying to pull himself together.

"What happened?" He asked lowly after a while. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't tell you because I knew it would distract you from your own lives. And I knew I was going to be fine, so worrying you was the most selfish thing I could do. And about how it happened..." she sighed. "It was two weeks ago." She closed her eyes and focused on the memory.

* * *

_Cassandra and Juliana were both slowly making their way through the jungle, hyper aware of their surroundings. _

_The place they were supposed to get to wasn't too far away now. The sounds of insects and small animals were the only company they had apart from each other. Until _they _arrived._

_At first it was a sound of rustling leaves that shouldn't be too worrying, except from the fact that they were on a territory where everything gave you a reason to be worried. They turned their heads towards the source of the sound immediately._

_First mistake._

_As soon as they turned back, Juliana saw a dark figure throw itself at her daughter, knocking her on the ground. Cassandra screamed, and when she moved to help her felt something like a needle being inserted on her shoulder. The pain came five seconds later, but the paralysis began the moment it made contact with her skin. She fell to the floor, helpless._

_"**Stop!**" She heard Cassandra shout as she threw the person that was now on top of her to a tree, and standing up faster than a bullet. "**We're good! She's Juliana Souza and I'm-**" she said fast but was stopped when another dark figure tried to stab her with a large knife. The fast movement she made to avoid that earned her a clean cut from her chin to the middle of her chest. She screamed in pain as blood oozed from the wound, and fell to the floor._

_"**Juliana Souza?**" A voice asked and moved to the immobilized body on the ground, moving it so her face was now visible. Juliana heard a loud gasp followed by fast instructions to what she guessed where a bunch of other people hiding and waiting for the attack. She felt another sharp pain on her shoulder as the needle-like thing was removed, followed by the feeling of something wet being rubbed into the wound and the feeling of her extremities returning to her. "**We are so sorry, we thought you were one of the masked wizards...**"_

_"Help her. Help her." She was able to say as she managed to stand up, feeling very dizzy. She heard another bunch of orders being yelled fast and heard how Cassandra's screams stopped and there was no more blood coming out of her. _

_"**Come with us, we'll help you. We are terribly sorry...**" Was the last thing she heard before she fainted._

_When she woke up again, Cassandra was looking at her, her shirt gone and replaced by a clean bandage._

_"**I already did the talking for you. You were out for five hours." **She explained.** "They poisoned you with a dart. The substance came from a rare snake, but it's also mixed with a potion of their own invention. Twenty times deadlier that way. It paralyzes you at first, then starts solidifying the blood on your veins. You pass out after the first minutes, so you basically die in your sleep. They already took it out of you but... um...**" She struggled and Juliana rolled her eyes. She already knew where this was headed. _

_"**How big is it? Will it compromise any organs or-**" Cassandra shook her head._

_"**It's a bit smaller than your palm. It looks like you have black veins but from what they told me, it won't affect you in any way. But it's permanent.**" Juliana sighed._

_"**Yeah, okay. Could've been worse. So they accepted to join us?**" Cassandra nodded._

_"**Well, that's good news. I'm proud of you.**" She said before falling asleep._

* * *

"Who were they?" Fred asked, his brow furrowed.

"Amazons." Juliana answered, entering the room. "Probably the deadliest group of women you'll ever meet. Whoever you are, if you are fighting a war, you want them on your side. That's why the Death Eaters tried to recruit them. It didn't go that well for them. Out of five, one managed to escape, but probably died shortly after."

"I didn't..." Steve whispered before running his hand through his hair. "Everything seems so much real now. In America they barely worry about this... They think it's never going to reach us. They think themselves invincible. But they are so wrong, but I don't think anyone will be able to convince them otherwise."

"Okay, stop this now." Juliana said. "You are all here because it's Cassie's birthday, because it's something to _celebrate. _Don't worry about the world, at least for today."

They nodded and congratulated her for the first time.

* * *

Cassandra was looking at a pile of presents on the table, alone. Her eyes catched a box she knew she hadn't seen anyone arrive with it, and her heart started beating faster. There was a small card attached to it, and she opened it with trembling hands.

_I'm sorry I'm not there for you_

_I hope you forgive me, and please know_

_that I will always love you, not matter what_

She felt her throat drying and closed the card quickly. She picked the box, ready to take it away from all the other gifts she was supposed to open with everyone when another one catched her eye as well.

_I don't know if I outdid you_

_But this felt right_

_Love, _

_Fred_

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After a second she grabbed it as well and disappeared to her room, placing the two boxes on the drawer of her nightstand, out of the prying eyes of her family and friends. This was private, and she was making sure she would enjoy them on her own. No one else.

She appeared on the room a second before Rosa's head appeared on the doorway.

"**We're gonna eat the cake now, whether you're there or not.**" She said before disappearing. Cassandra smiled and followed her.

Her mother supported the three people that spoke only English in the room by singing the song with them, whereas everyone else just sang in portuguese. It was as embarrassing as something like that could get.

"Now open your gifts." Steve said with a small smile and she nodded. The pile that used to be on the living room was now in front of her.

"Okay, yours first." She said to Juliana, who smiled. It was a large box, and rather heavy. She tore the wrapping paper apart and gasped when she saw what her mother got her. "MOM!" She yelled as her eyes opened wide.

"Holy shit." Steve managed to say when he saw the box, his eyes as wide as hers.

"How on Earth..." She asked as she opened it, afraid of touching anything.

Rosa had her mouth opened wide as well, but managed to smile at the same time.

Fred and George, on the other side, didn't understand a thing of what was going on.

"What's that? What is a Motorola? Sounds weird." George said.

"What does StarTAC mean?" Fred asked with a frown.

"I can't believe you did this." Cassandra said looking at her mother, who rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Come on. You deserved it."

"Mom, I think this might be more expensive than this house." She said as she took the small device from the box and started analyzing it.

"Don't be so dramatic, I know people." Juliana said with a wink.

"Is no one going to answer?" George asked.

"You know what a phone is, right?" Cassandra said and the twins nodded. "Well, this is a phone. You can take it wherever you want and call who you want."

"What? That's not a phone. We've seen phones before. They are big and they have this thing you grab and use it to speak." Fred said, frowning.

"Oh no, that definitely is a phone." Steve said. "What you described is a regular phone, these..." He said reaching for his backpack and taking what it looked like a small black plastic brick, "are mobile phones. They are better because you can use them as a regular phone but you can be anywhere so it makes communication easier. Is it already working?" He asked Juliana, who nodded. "Can I borrow it for a second?" He said to Cassandra who put it on his hand. He opened it and pressed a few buttons and a few seconds later, his own phone was ringing. "See? You just pick up and you talk, like with the phones you know." They nodded, impressed, and Cassandra smiled.

After that, she kept on opening her presents, receiving various gifts from her family, clothes from Rosa, as usual, the collection of the Back To The Future movies on VHS from Steve and a long novel written by a witch named Casilda Jameson that looked very promising from George.

In the mess gifts, wrapping paper and she not saying who each one was from, no one noticed that she didn't open a specific present.

No one except the person who got it for her, of course.

* * *

Her relatives left before anyone else. Rosa was next, because it was already late and she was missing precious hours of sleep when she had to go to college early the next morning.

After her, Steve left. He, like Rosa, also had classes to go in the morning.

Which left only Fred and George.

George was in his normal mood, funny, playful, and trying to make her laugh. Fred was another story. For a while now he had been moody, answering with short sentences, a deep scowl on his face.

Of course she noticed, but the didn't tell her what was wrong even when she insisted. So she let it go. It was probably going to pass.

They left not too long after that. She told her mother she was going to sleep and practically ran to her bedroom.

She opened her drawer and pulled the two boxes. Her hand moved to the box Severus sent her without her control and she opened it before she even knew what she was doing.

Inside was a necklace with a medium sized orange stone. She thought it was beautiful the second she saw it, and picked the small paper that was under it. An explanation always awaited her when her father got her something.

_You probably didn't notice yet, but if you look closely, you will see the stone is not in fact orange, but instead is transparent, and what's trapped inside is what gives it such a bright color._

_This time your gift was entirely manufactured by myself. What you see inside that stone is a flame extracted from a dying Phoenix. _

_As you know, they are known for their ability to be born again from their own ashes, young and fresh, and grow stronger each passing day._

_What I'm saying here is, no matter how hard things can be, or if you think it's the end and there's nothing for you to keep going, remember that it is possible to turn into ashes before rising again, better and stronger than ever before._

_I love you, take care_

By the time she finished the letter her face was soaked in tears and she was rocking back and forth. She hugged the paper to her chest as she admired the living flame in the stone.

_I can't imagine how hard to manage this must have been._

It took her several minutes to finally calm herself before she could move to the other box.

She gasped one more time as she marveled at how gorgeous of the gift on her hands was.

It was a necklace as well, but this one was completely different. It was silver and white, and it glowed.

Jesus, _how it glowed._

Not in the way a lightbulb would glow but it glowed because of the sheer beauty it had.

It had the shape of a diamond, with small stones on the corners. In the middle it had a _C _in what appeared to be a white and very, very thin line. She touched it slowly, as if it even looking at it too much was going to break it.

_This is so beautiful, how can it be so beautiful._

She turned it and smiled when she saw the small inscription carved on the back.

_Don't forget me_

_I'm here for you_

She almost laughed when she saw that inside the box was a letter much like her father had written, as if they had arranged to get her almost identical gifts.

_I really hope you like it. I hope it doesn't make me look arrogant or egocentric, because that wasn't the idea._

_You know, the woman who sold it to me said that the C on the middle wasn't supposed to be a C, it was actually a mistake from the maker. He wanted to make a symbol that represented his family, but when he discovered that he couldn't, he just gave up and did what he could. He sold it to the store decades ago, and she hadn't been able to sell it mostly because even if it was beautiful, people who don't have someone with a C on their names that means something didn't want to buy it._

_Now, if you're wondering why I thought it might make me egocentric it's because the C is actually made of unicorn hair, which happens to be the core of my wand._

_Now it's starting to make sense, isn't it?_

_Okay._

_When I found out about it I immediately thought I had to get it for you. You might be asking yourself why... well, I know I asked myself that question._

_It was because it make me think that whenever you were, you could have something that linked us together._

_Something that made you remember that I'm here for you, and that no matter how alone you might feel one day, you can always count with me._

_I hope it's not too cheesy for you, and I hope you don't hate it_

_Love, _

_Fred_

Cassandra let out happy breath and let herself fall back into her mattress. _How could I not love it, you idiot._

She held both necklaces on her hand, looking at them with a dreamy look on her face. _They look like fire and ice, _she thought.

She decided that the chain on Severus' necklace looked more resistent and was prettier, so she took the pendant from Fred's and put it there. The two together looked so amazingly beautiful that she thought she was going to cry again.

She put them around her neck with little difficulty, and fell asleep soundly for the first time in weeks.

* * *

"Did he give you an answer?" Cassandra asked slowly as Tonks entered the room.

"No, I'm sorry." She answered sadly and Cassie rubbed her eyes.

"I don't know what's wrong." She said miserably. "How many letters have been now?"

"At least five, I think." Tonks replied as she sat beside her and rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Didn't he say anything? George? Did you give him my letter?" Tonks nodded and pulled a small piece of paper from her pocket.

"He said he's sorry he couldn't write anything longer." She said before standing up and giving her some privacy.

Cassandra opened the letter with shaky hands and started reading.

_Cass_

_I'm sorry I didn't write anything sooner, I haven't had the chance._

_Look, I don't know what's going on. Did you say anything to him? He's not reading your letters, and he's moody most of the time, ever since your birthday. He doesn't tell me what's happening, and he always did before._

_Do you think someone said something to him?_

_Please try to remember, I can't stand seeing him like this._

_Take care_

_George_

She frowned deeply. _What the hell? _She knew she hadn't said anything to him. But she had some rude relatives... _maybe they said something about him being British? _Her cousins loved doing that. _Maybe they made him feel self-conscious...and I didn't stand up for him. God, I would be upset too._

_But I didn't even know! _

With this inner turmoil she quickly scribbled a letter saying that she apologized if anyone had said something to him, that she knew how rude some of her relatives could be, and she asked him to tell her what had made him so mad, so she could apologize properly. She gave the letter to Tonks and insisted that she made sure he read it.

When Tonks handed it to Fred, he set it on fire before she could even begin to say something.

* * *

Tonks didn't exactly explain to Cassandra what he had done, but she implied that she hadn't been able to make him read it. However, what she said was enough to make her cry.

"Maybe you can try going there, you know. And ask him in person." Tonks suggested caressing her hair as she cried into her shoulder. Juliana was rubbing her back, frowning sadly.

"I went there. The shop was closed and it looked like no one was there. I tried to get inside but everything was enchanted." She managed to explain between sobs.

"I don't know what's going on! Everything was fine on my birthday!" She cried out, desperately. "I don't know what to do."

"We'll figure it out." Juliana said and Tonks nodded.

* * *

November was long gone, and December 24th had arrived, making Cassandra and Juliana felt Severus absence with more force than ever before.

To their family's dismay, they decided that they weren't going to be part of the celebration they were going to have this year in Juliana's aunt house. Isabel offered to stay with them, but they convinced her to go.

It was an hour before midnight when _he_ arrived.

They were sitting on the steps that lead to the entrance to the house when a loud _crack _signaling that someone had apparated there. They lifted their heads immediately, because there was only _one person_ that was able to pass the wards placed around the house.

And there he was, standing as tall and imposing as usual.

Juliana was the first one to react, not even bothering to walk to where he was but instead appearing in front of him and launching herself into his arms, kissing him with all she had. Severus returned the kiss just as eagerly, pulling her as close to him as humanly possible.

When they pulled apart he immediately moved to Cassandra, who was crying with her hand covering her mouth. He opened his arms and she ran into him, hugging him as tight as she could, scared that if she didn't he might disappear.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here for your birthday, darling." He whispered kissing her hair. She shook her head.

"You're here now. " She whispered against his chest. " I don't even care about anything else."

* * *

It was past midnight when Tonks arrived. She didn't look to good herself, with dark bags under her eyes and her hair a dull brown color.

She was so immersed on her own thoughts that she didn't notice him at first.

"How are you doing?" She asked as she quickly took out all of her winter garments. "I know it must be-" Her eyes widened when she saw the familiar dark figure sitting on the couch, next to a sleeping Cassandra. "Severus!" She yelled, moving her hand to her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart. "You made it." She said with a smile on her voice. The corners of Severus' mouth lifted just a little, which was more than enough for her. Cassandra stirred and opened her eyes slowly, completely waking up when she saw Tonks standing there. She rose up from the couch and ran to hug her. Tonks returned it with a wide smile.

"I missed you too, kid." She said with a wink.

Apart from Isabel, Tonks was the only other person that knew what was _really _happening. Severus and Juliana had decided to tell her the whole truth after coming to the conclusion that if she didn't know the truth when _it _finally happened, their friendship was going to be damaged beyond repair. And that was something they were not going to be able to bear.

Tonks opted for a Sacred Oath instead of an Unbreakable Vow. The magic was more powerful, and much more efficient. With an Unbrekable Vow, if she swore to never tell anyone about it, she could be coerced to tell the truth anyway, and she would die afterwards. But with a Sacred Oath, depending on the words you used, you'd be dead even before they tried to use Legilimency on you. It was much more dangerous, of course, but it was a risk she was more than willing to take. It was precisely this made Severus grow fonder of her, and it was his situation what made Tonks finally understand what he was doing completely, both gaining each other's full trust.

"You don't look well, Nymphadora." Severus said in a tone that could be barely perceived as concern. She didn't even bother to stop him from calling her _that _anymore. Oddly enough, she couldn't picture him calling her something other than that. "You haven't been sleeping." He said matter of factly.

"No, no, I haven't. Might as well tell you why, Juliana probably briefed you on the subject already." She launched herself on an explanation on how Remus Lupin was a _prick_, as she nicely put it, and how annoying it was that he didn't let her be with him because _he chose what he thought was better for her. _

"I damn well know what's good for me, I'm a big girl, I don't need anyone making choices for me." She finished, angry and upset. "I'm sorry, Severus. I know you don't like him, but I've had the chance to meet a side of him that-" Severus stopped her.

"Don't apologize, Nymphadora. _You_ have nothing to be sorry for. And especially not for being in love with someone who clearly considers himself below you, and thinks that he can't give you what you deserve." He rubbed Juliana's wounded shoulder absent mindedly as she snuggled closer to him. "I understand you're upset, and it's your right to be. But I need you to understand something: He knows that being with him can leave you in a dangerous position. And not only because of his _condition _but also because of the way people like him are perceived by society. They are hated, and people fear them. Your association with him will lead you to become an outcast yourself. I dare say he only does this because he wants to you to live a normal life, without having to hide because of him." He stopped at this and Tonks realized he wasn't just talking about Remus. "But he doesn't realize that his biggest mistake is thinking that you are confused and you don't know what you're getting into. He believes he's doing what's best for you, giving you a chance to be truly happy, when, actually, _he_ is all you need to achieve that. Give him more time, I believe he'll realize how wrong he is." Tonks sighed, somehow very comforted by his words.

"Thank you, Severus."

* * *

A while later, Cassandra finally agreed to go to bed, with the promise that her father was not going to go without saying goodbye.

When she came out of the bathroom after washing her teeth, a soft knocking on the door of her bedroom startled her.

"Come in." She said and Tonks peeked her head in.

"Hey, are you still awake?" She asked and Cassie nodded, moving to sit on the bed and inviting her to do the same. Once she did, they were silent for a while.

"I spoke with George." That got Cassie's attention.

"What did he say? How's Fred? Did he say anything about me?"

"They're both fine. George said Fred is not so moody anymore, but still refuses to say what happened to him. They are spending the holidays at the Burrow. Harry is there too, and Bill's fiancé is living with the Weasleys now." Cassie nodded but didn't say anything. Her hands were closed on her lap, and Tonks knew it was because they were starting to tremble. "Cass, I have an idea, I talked with George about it and he agreed to help." Cassie looked up at her and she saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "I will take you to the Burrow, or somewhere close, and George will convince Fred to go with him without saying he's going to meet with you, because he might refuse if he knows." Cassie nodded, her expression of clear pain. "Don't be sad about it, I jus don't understand what happened and I really think you need to find out as well, and you need to do it face to face." Cassandra nodded again and rubbed her eyes.

"When?" She managed to ask, her voice hoarse.

"After your dad leaves. I don't want to take any time you can have with him from you."

"Okay. You just come pick me up any time after that, I will be ready." She sighed. "Thank you." Tonks smiled sadly and moved to hug her.

"Anytime, Cass. Anytime."

* * *

It was the morning of December 26th, and George had barely managed to get Fred out of bed.

"Why are we doing this? I'm freezing my balls off here." Fred complained and George rolled his eyes. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"We're almost there." George answered as he reached the top of the hill that was now covered in a heavy layer of snow. Fred was a few feet behind him, having more trouble to walk.

"I don't understand-" He began to say when he heard his twin's voice say _a__ccio wand, _and felt it leave his pocket to place itself on George's hand. "What the hell..." He said dumbfounded, but George cut him off again.

"Fix this." He said before disapparating with a loud _crack. _Once he was gone he was finally able to see someone standing there, with their back to him. The person was wearing a coat with the hood on, and he couldn't really make out who could possibly be, because he wasn't fully awake yet and the reflection of the sun in the snow was making his eyes hurt.

"Excuse me?" He said politely as he walked to whoever was standing there. He stopped abruptly when he saw who it was.

"Fred." Cassandra managed to say before he frowned and turned to leave. She sighed and made an effort to not start crying in front of him. "Fred, wait." She said and grabbed his arm, which earned her a nasty glare before he pulled it out from her grasp roughly. "Fred! Please tell me what happened!" She yelled at him and he turned to her, his face contorted in displeasure.

"Leave. Me. Alone." He said and walked to leave again, but she grabbed his arm one more time. He moved his head to avoid looking at her face.

"Look at me." She whispered and after a few seconds he did.

"Get lost, Cassandra." She let the hand that was holding his arm fall to her side, and looked at him, her face emotionless. _He never called me that before._

Fred swallowed and turned to leave one more time. Apparently she wasn't going to follow this time, because he managed to walk several steps without her doing anything. But she wasn't done, not yet.

"What is wrong with you!" Cassie screamed angrily, all emotions she had been supressing the past months finally catching up to her. He ignored her and kept walking, quickening up his pace. She huffed, furious, and disappeared on the spot, only to appear in front of him, stopping him again. He glared at her.

"What is wrong with me? Nothing could possibly be wrong with me, Cassandra, why do you ask? Is there anything that should be wrong?" He spat, venom and sarcasm dripping from his voice. She winced at his tone and took a few steps back.

"Of course there is something wrong! You've been ignoring me and treating me as if I was some kind of disease you want to get rid of! What the fuck is happening? Why are you acting like this?!" She asked, desperate. He narrowed his eyes at her and walked closer.

"Don't think I don't know, Cassandra. How long have you known you didn't want me as your friend?!" He screamed and she looked at him, confusion and disbelief showing on her features.

"What?! Are you mental? How can you even ask that!" She screamed, enraged.

"STOP FAKING!" He screamed back, his face red. "Save it! Do you think I don't know you hid my present on your birthday? Have you always been so ashamed of me? I thought you were different." He whispered, his eyes starting to water.

"That's it?" She said, her voice low. "You think I didn't open your gift because I'm ashamed of you." He narrowed his eyes at her.

"It's quite obvious now, isn't it?" By now her hands were balled into fists and she was resisting the urge to scream.

"You know what? It's not. It's not quite obvious." She said and pulled a chain out of her sweater. There was a orange stone he didn't recognize but right next to it was... _his gift_. "You know what this is?" She said, her voice strained because of the tears she was trying to hold back, showing him the stone. "This is my father's gift. That birthday was the first one he missed in fourteen years. This Christmas was the first time I've seen him in _months_. You don't recognize it because I didn't open his present in front of everyone. You know why? Because it was too personal to share it with anyone else. Now think." She said with her teeth clenched. "There was only other present I didn't open in front of everyone." She now grabbed the pendant he gave her with two fingers. "And you thought it was because I was ashamed of it? I opened George's in front of everyone if you didn't notice. When did I ever show _any _kind of sign that could make you even consider that I'm ashamed of you?" She said and shook her head, dejectedly. The tears were falling freely now. "I thought you knew me. I was such an idiot. I knew the moment you met me you created an image of myself in your mind, with this horrible personality, and all this time you've been waiting for me to finally show it to you. Well, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm not the bitch you imagined I was. And I'm fucking done with you." She said and he just stood there, his face unexpressive, his mind going crazy with guilt. She turned to leave and before his hand could grab her arm to stop her, she vanished.

"_Cassie._" He whispered brokenly, his arm extended in front of him.

"Freddie, are you okay?" The voice of his twin asked behind him. He shook his head. "You need to go after her, mate."

"I don't know where she is." He said lowly, rubbing his eyes.

"Well... I happen to remember her saying that when she's upset she likes to go to a park with swings. It relaxes her." Fred's face lit up immediately, but a second later he frowned.

"She could be in London for all we know."

"Yeah, but I don't think she went that far. I believe she just disappeared away enough so you couldn't stop her. You know where the park is, Fred. Go." George said, handing him his wand. Fred nodded and hugged his brother quickly before disapparating.

* * *

Cassie was breathing shakily, trying to calm herself down, while her tears fell freely from her eyes.

"Jesus Christ, Cassandra. Get a hold of yourself." She whispered as she tried to dry her cheeks, only to feel them get wet again.

She was sitting in a swing close to one of the corners of the park without moving, alone. Her hands were trembling and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hold back the sobs. _Why? _She asked herself. _I knew he was too good to be true. _As she thought that, she also began to search in her memories for something that could support his terrible accusations, only to find nothing. Actually, she found herself remembering things she had said to him that more than anything else could be considered as hints for Fred to realize she liked, _liked_ him. It seemed like she was practically saying_ I really like you, please like me back.  
_

Maybe that was the problem, he had caught the hints and this was his way of telling her he wasn't interested.

_Well, he could've not been such an asshole about it._

She buried her face on her hands and groaned lowly.

What was she going to do now? What was she going to say? Was he ever going to speak to her again? Well, _she_ wasn't going to speak to him.

But what about George? He was going to stop talking to her as well if Fred did. She knew that for a fact.

And the thought of losing their friendship had her crying harder, her eyes closed tightly behind her palms.

Suddenly, she felt two hands grabbing hers and carefully removing them from her face. Her head shot up quickly, only to make instant contact with a pair of eyes she had grown so very fond of. But right now, she wasn't in the mood for thinking about that.

She tried to remove her hands from his but he held them tighter. She was sitting and he was kneeling in front of her, his head a few inches lower than hers. She tried to not look at him, but her eyes apparently had a mind of their own and kept moving to see his face. She wished she hadn't looked, because as she did, she felt most of her anger dissipate and the sudden urge to _kiss-him-and-make-everything-better_ was becoming unbearable.

She didn't particularly know what state her face was in, but she knew she looked awful. She also knew that he wasn't too far behind from her. His eyes were red and puffy, and his bottom lip was trembling. His cheeks weren't wet at the moment, but they weren't dry, like if he had just ran his hand over them.

"I don't think I wanna talk to you." She whispered looking at him in the eyes, and he frowned sadly.

"Cassie..." He said brokenly and she had to fight the urge to launch herself at him one more time. "I know I said terrible things and I understand if you don't want to see me again but I won't without saying this." Fred took a deep breath and she sniffed as he rubbed circles on her hands with his thumbs. She looked down. "I..." He said and his voice broke. "I'm in love with you." She looked up immediately, her eyes wide in surprise.

"What?" She whispered, hoarsely. He closed his eyes tightly, already preparing himself for rejection. He wasn't finished yet, though.

"I've never been in love before but I know..." He opened his eyes again and looked her as she gaped. "I know this must be what it feels like. I feel like I _physically need_ to be around you to feel... complete. And I've been feeling this for some time now, but I didn't want to risk ruining our friendship because I know it's hard and I know you probably don't feel the same-" His rambling was cut by the feeling of a warm pair of lips on his.

It took him a second to react but when he did he instinctively let go of her hands to cup her face and deepen the kiss. She moaned as she opened her mouth and he began kissing her harder, making his hear skip a beat and groan in response. Her hands moved to tangle on the hair behind his neck and he bit her lip when she pulled softly.

They pulled away just barely, their foreheads touching and their ragged breaths mixing with each other. Cassandra opened her eyes first, only to see him smiling slightly. He followed shortly after, his smile now becoming a full grin.

"You like me back?" He asked huskily. She smiled.

"I think I might be in love with you too." She said as gave him a short kiss on the lips before pulling back. He didn't seem too happy at this because he pouted without even realizing he was doing it.

"Can we go somewhere more private?" She asked and he nodded before stealing a quick kiss. He stood up, brushing his now dirty and wet knees and grabbed her hands.

"Do you feel comfortable with apparating? We can walk if you want to." Fred said, uncommonly shy. Cassie nodded and moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face on his neck, placing a soft kiss there and enjoying the way his body tensed, while he pulled her flush to his body.

"Are you ready?" He asked softly and she nodded, her face on his chest. He kissed her hair and she closed her eyes tightly, trying to prepare herself for the awful feeling she was about to experience for the first time.

However, she couldn't be ready for how terrible it was. It only lasted a second, but it was enough to make her dizzy and nauseous.

Cassie groaned loudly and tried to pull away from Fred, but he held her tighter, rubbing soothing circles on her back under her coat and above her sweater.

"The feeling will pass in a second." He said reassuringly and she nodded, her eyes tightly closed.

After a few moments she recovered, and Fred reluctantly let her pull away from his arms. That was when she realized they were in... _a tree house? _She frowned and moved to look out of a small window only to see that they were completely surrounded by dozens of other trees.

"Where are we?" Cassie asked, still looking outside. In a second she realized that it was unnaturally warm for a tree house and turned to see Fred with his wand in his hand, concentrating on conjuring a blanket and cushions for them to sit in. She looked around as she took her coat off and decided that even if it was a small place, it was still too big for a regular tree house.

"In the woods close to The Burrow." He answered once he was pleased with the result. He looked at her and extended his hand for her to take. When she did, he pulled her to him and kissed her softly before they placed themselves comfortably on the floor. She moved to sit next to him but he pulled her on his lap, hugging her close and burying his face on her neck. "Dad built this house when we were kids, Ginny was still a baby. He became obsessed with it and wanted to do it the muggle way but... he ended up using magic. We spent entire summers in here." He said with a smile and a nostalgic tone. Cassie snuggled closer, taking his hand and intertwining his fingers with hers. They were both silent for a while, until she spoke.

"Fred, we need to talk." She said and he let out a sigh.

"I know."

"You said awful things to me. It really hurt." She fought back the urge to start crying again. Fred rubbed her back again and she bit her lip. "Did... um... did you mean what you said?" She asked in a whisper. He opened his mouth to answer but she kept talking. "Why didn't you talk to me? I... I spent weeks believing you hated me." Her voice broke at the end of the sentence and he closed his eyes tightly, fighting back his own tears.

He moved his hand to her cheek and lifted her head to make sure she was looking at him. He took a deep calming breath and began talking.

"I'm going to be completely honest with you because that's the least you deserve." She bit her lip. "I... honestly thought that you were ashamed of me." She frowned sadly and her eyes filled with tears again. "It's not because of you, it's because of me. Cassie..." He rubbed his eyes and she realized that whatever he was going to say next wasn't easy for him. She cupped his face on her hands, making eye contact with him. She leaned into him slowly and kissed him deeply, making him sigh in pleasure.

"I want to make you feel better." She whispered before she kissed him again. He responded eagerly and she shifted so her legs were wrapped around his hips. She felt something harden fast underneath her and resisted the urge to moan and roll her hips against his. "Let me help. I'm here to listen." She rested her forehead against his, her hands massaging the back of his neck and his around her torso, pulling her close. His eyes rolled back at the amazing feeling of her so close to him, and took a few breaths to calm down. _Not yet._ After a while he sighed tiredly and rested his head on her shoulder, not seeing her face. She kept her hands where they were, helping him relax.

"I never had a girlfriend." He said suddenly and she frowned, wondering where he was going with this. "In my life I liked a few girls and I wanted to go out with most of them but it just seems that... I don't know... I'm never good enough for them." He was silent for a while but Cassandra felt it wasn't for her to speak. "You know, George has never had a girlfriend before, either. It's just that... it seems that people believe that because we _like_ jokes or pranks we _believe_ that everything is a joke, or maybe that we won't take a relationship seriously because we can't take anything seriously. But we can, I promise we can. I can." He looked up said as if trying to convince her that he meant it. She smiled sweetly.

"I know you can, love." She said before kissing him softly. He blushed and returned his head to rest on her shoulder.

"What I'm trying to say is that... Cassie, before I met you, the only feeling I was sure I could feel was this sort of _liking _towards a girl that always ended in nothing. I was used to it. Hell, I had accepted that it was all I was going to feel. But then you appeared, and I got to know you, and suddenly there was something new I didn't know how to handle, and I even tried to deny it at frist. But I could only lie to myself so much. I fell for you, Cassie. And I didn't know what to do about it." He lifted his head again to look at her, only to be surprised by her kissing him roughly.

Once again Cassandra felt something harden underneath her, but this time she didn't hold back the moan or the urge to roll her hips against his. Fred's mouth had moved to kiss her neck when she did this, and he couldn't help but sink his teeth into her skin to stifle the loud groan that was about to come out of his own mouth. She kept grinding against him, starting to kiss him one more time as his hands moved to grip her backside.

"Cassandra..." he moaned as she now moved to kiss his neck, his breathing ragged. "Hmmm... Cassie... Cass..." He said and suddenly opened his eyes wide, realizing that if they didn't stop now he was going to... _finish_ his business. He wanted to tell her to stop but his mouth couldn't begin to say the words. Her mouth claimed his again and his hands moved to their own accord, making them both moan loudly in pleasure. He was breathing fast and he knew there was no way of stopping what was going to happen next. "Cassie, I'm..." He managed to get out before she moved her mouth to his ear and nipped at his earlobe.

"I know." She whispered huskily and that was enough to send him to the edge. He felt suddenly very dizzy and was sure he was seeing stars. He said her name loudly and buried his face on her neck.

_How the hell did she do that? _His mind managed to think in the midst of his frenzied pleasure.

"I am so sorry." He said, mortified and red as a tomato. "I just... I'm so sorry." She smiled at his embarrassment and kissed him again.

"Fred, I was aware of what was going to happen." He looked at her with his eyes wide. "I _wanted _that to happen." He took a deep breath and shifted a bit underneath her, making her laugh. "Fred!" She scolded him jokingly, looking flustered. "You surely are quick to get eager again." He blushed and hid his face on her chest. That particular place did not help to ease his growing problem.

"I think we should change positions, I'm not finished yet and this isn't helping anymore." He said as she began to disentangle her legs from his waist. She smirked.

"Oh, I can _feel_ that you're not finished." She teased and he narrowed his eyes at her. She moved so she was now facing him, and he cleared his throat.

"First..." He began to say in an _all business _voice that made her mock him by sitting up straight and looking at him attentively. "I would like to apologize for the fact that I _clearly _got the better end on our previous... situation." She smiled.

"I figured you would, don't worry about it. You have plenty of time to make it up to me." She said with a wink and he groaned, as if he was in pain.

"Please don't say stuff like that." He said with a frown and crossed his legs uncomfortably as he muttered _scourgify _under his breath. She laughed out loud.

"Sorry." She said not sounding at all apologetic. "Go on, say whatever you need to." She said with a reassuring smile.

His mood changed quickly and he looked down, biting his lip.

"Lie down with me?" Fred asked shyly and she nodded, moving lie down on the blanket as he did the same, both facing each other. He looked at her for a few seconds before moving his hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "You know..." He began and she laced her fingers with his. "I'm don't want to sound arrogant but... I was popular in school. George and I were _very_ popular. People always wanting to hang out with us for a good laugh, girls saying we were hot... but in the end we were hardly ever considered more than that. Fred and George Weasley, always good for a laugh. But... do you know how bad it feels knowing that people don't trust you enough to ask you for help... or that they don't tell you any secrets because they think you won't take them seriously?" Cassie frowned sadly and moved her arm to his waist, pulling him closer to her. "We have Lee, he's our best mate. But I swear, in the whole school, he's the only one who trusted us, who actually took the time to get to know the other side of us. There was this one time when I saw that Katie... Katie Bell, remember? I told you about her." She nodded. "Well, I saw that she was really sad and I went to ask her what was wrong and she said that she wasn't going to tell me because I was going to laugh at her." He frowned. "I knew she was upset, I wasn't going to laugh at something that was making her upset. But that's how everyone felt about us, and it hurts. It really does." Fred's voice was strained and Cassie leaned in to place a soft and comforting kiss on his lips. When she pulled away, his eyes were closed and he was smiling slightly. He huddled closer to her, his arm draped on her hip. "Anyway... that's what always scared me the most about being your friend."

"Fred..." Cassie began but he interrupted her.

"I need to say this. I was terrified that you thought I wasn't going to be a good enough friend for you because I couldn't take things seriously. And I'm sorry, I really am, because you never did anything that could've given me a hint that you felt that way... it's because I'm insecure. And I know that most people would laugh if they heard me saying it but just because I don't show it doesn't mean I don't feel it. I get scared, and I want people to like me... desperately." She could sense his uneasiness as he told her this.

"Fred, you really don't need to say all this..." He shook his head.

"I do. I do need to. I want to tell you everything." She nodded again. "Whenever I was with you there was always part of me that was waiting for you to finally say that you didn't trust me at all, just like everyone else. But that part was always overpowered by the bigger part that said that _you are not like everybody else. _You're different. Apart from Lee and George, you're my best friend." She blushed and he smiled. He then frowned. "But then there was your birthday... I'm so sorry, Cassie. I'm so sorry for what I did to you." He apologized, his eyes filling with tears.

"Fred..." Cassie said softy. "What did you exactly believe that night?" He was silent for a while, looking as if he was trying to gather enough strenght to speak.

"I thought you didn't open my present because you thought it was going to be a joke and you didn't want me to ruin your birthday, especially with things as complicated as they are now. I was convinced that you had assumed that it was going to be something stupid and you obviously weren't in the mood for it. I'm so sorry, Cassie. I never wanted to hurt you, or make you cry. I was stupid and the first thing I should've done was talking to you about it."

She sniffed, holding back tears, remembering how she felt when she found out he had ignored her letters.

"I wrote you letters. I wish you would've read them, maybe then..." She was cut off by his lips on hers.

"I know, I know. I was an arse and I am so sorry, truly sorry. Please say you forgive me. Please." He pleaded in a soft whisper, crying shamelessly and she couldn't help but nod.

"Of course I forgive you." Cassie said before kissing him until they were breathless. "I love you, Freddie." He closed his eyes and sighed happily.

"Only George calls me that." He whispered.

"I'm sorry, I won't-"

"No, I want you to call me that. I like the way it sounds." She smiled. "Cassie?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

* * *

**Ohhh, I hope it wasn't too terrible. I tried to do my best. **

**Please forgive any grammar mistakes and stuff, it's quite long and I'm the one who revises my chapters.**

**Also, if you didn't guess already, Cassandra's new phone is the good old Motorola StarTAC. I, of course, don't own the rights to it and stuff. Keep in mind that her birthday was on October 31st, 1996. If you do a little Wikipedia research, you'll find that the phone was released on January of that year, 9 months before. And it was expensive as fuck. So, it is kind of a big deal that Juliana got it for her. **

**Steve phone is the phone that came before that (Motorola MicroTAC), which I'm sure most of you have seen at least once in your lives.**


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